

DOROT-HY LYMAN LEETCH 


























Class ?Zl 


Book._ 

Gojyright N?___ 


COPYRIGHT DKKJSm 
























TOMMY TUCKER 
ON A 

PLANTATION 











“so YOU WANT TO WEAR A WIG, DO YOU?” 

—Page 74 













































































































































TOMMY TUCKER 
ON A PLANTATION 

BY 

DOROTHY LYMAN LEETOH 

• * 

FOREWORD BY 

LOUISE P. LATIMER 

DIRECTOR, WORK WITH CHILDREN 
PUBLIC LIBRARY OP THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

L.J. BRIDGMAN 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE SHEPARD CO. 















Copyright, 1925, 

By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 

All rights reserved 

Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 


PRINTED IN U. S. A. 


IRorwooD press 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 

NORWOOD, MASS. 

APR-8*25 

. ©C1A823G46 


« c t 


I 





TO 

BESSIE 

AND 

NICKIE 





FOREWORD 


Tommy Tucker makes a neat bow 
and invites any children who would 
see a real plantation to board a great 
sailing vessel and travel up the river 
with him. Those who wish to go 
must not mind if they have no three- 
cornered hats; no beautiful blue 
coats and shiny buckles on their 
shoes. They can just pretend. 

Many children invited on this trip 
may have visited the Massachusetts 
Colony already; they may have read 
somethingof the town life of the early 
New Englander, of his Thanksgivings, 
his good and bad times with the Indi¬ 
ans. When they arrive in Virginia they 
will see the country life of the set- 


8 


FOREWORD 


tiers, the lovely gardens, the tobacco 
fields, the beautiful relations existing 
between the “Big House” and the cabin. 

Teachers who are perplexed with the 
problem of showing the children plan¬ 
tation life without simple books on the 
subject will welcome Tommy. Libra¬ 
rians also will be glad to see the little 
boy coming in his great coach, for they 
will have in mind the times they have 
heard, “Please send me a set of books 
for my 3B class; we are studying Colo¬ 
nial life in Virginia,” or, over the tele¬ 
phone, “I asked for a set of books on 
Colonial Virginia and you have not sent 
me a single book on the subject that the 
children can read.” The poor libra¬ 
rian in such cases apologizes and ex¬ 
plains, as she has apologized and 
explained to many other teachers: 


FOREWORD 9 

“There are no whole books on Colonial 
life in Virginia that a third-grade child 
can read. We can send you a few 
simple books on the settlement of Vir¬ 
ginia, one or two books with an easy 
chapter or two on Colonial Virginia, 
but that is the best we can do.” 

To take children with him to such a 
plantation or to bring such a plantation 
to them is Tommy’s mission. 

Louise P. Latimer, 

Director of Work with Young People, 

The Public Library, 

Washington, D. C. 




CHAPTER 

CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I 

In Norfolk Town. 

15 

II 

Talbot Starts on His Journey . 

27 

III 

Travelling. 

40 

IV 

At the Inn. 

48 

V 

The End of the Journey 

57 

VI 

Getting Acquainted .... 

65 

VII 

Outside the Great House 

80 

VIII 

Helping. 

92 

IX 

A Visit to the “Quarters” . 

108 

X 

A Trip to the Fields .... 

126 

XI 

Getting Ready for Visitors . 

i47 

XII 

The Visitors Arrive .... 

H 5 

XIII 

Entertaining at Myrtle Hill . 

166 

XIV 

Going to Church. 

183 

XV 

The Ship Comes in .... 

197 


II 








ILLUSTRATIONS 


“So You Want to Wear a Wig, Do You?” 

(Page 74) Frontispiece 


PAGE 

Talbot opens the Gate. 2 3 

The Brig.36 

Inside the Coach, All by Himself . . 4 1 

“White Crow Ordinary”. 49 

“A Right Smart Fine House” .... 58 

“This is Master Talbot”.63 

The Great Bed.66 

“You Fellows Want a Run, Don’t You?” 83 

The Big Bell. 95 

On the “Ha-Ha” Wall.109 

The ’Possum. X21 

The Tobacco Fields . . . . . • * 1 33 

In the Hogshead.136 

Tommy Sat on a Little Stool . . . • x 5 2 

Clothes from London.160 

Sally. 161 

“Fashion Doll”.*63 

The Sun-Dial. I 68 

The Minuet. l l 2 

In Church. x 95 

Sound Asleep. 2I 5 


13 




































































Tommy Tucker 
On A Plantation 


CHAPTER I 


IN NORFOLK TOWN 


O N a bright day, one long-ago 
springtime, a crowd stood on 
a wharf at Norfolk town. 
They were watching a ship with great 
white sails make its way toward the sea. 

At the very edge of the wharf stood a 
boy. He was waving his three-cornered 
hat and shouting with all his might, 
“Good-bye, Mother, good-bye, good¬ 
bye, Father! Good-bye, Betsy, good- 

15 


16 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

bye, Polly! Good-bye! Good-bye, 
good-bye!” 

It happened that the ship was taking 
the Tucker family back to England, all 
but the small boy left on the w T harf. 

He was Talbot Matthew Tucker, who 
would not be eight years old till next 
birthday. But how grown-up he felt! 
Only that morning he had made the 
twins, Betsy and Polly, promise not to 
call him Tommy any more. 

“If I am big enough to be left in Vir¬ 
ginia by myself,” he had said, “I’m big 
enough for my own name!” 

So they had promised, and though 
they were girls and only five years old, 
Talbot was pleased. 

He had been able to say his whole 
name ever since he was a very little boy, 
but people always laughed and said, 


17 


In Norfolk Town 

“That is much too long a name for you; 
Tommy Tucker is just your size.” 
Now he hoped people would call him by 
his grown-up name. 

The ship grew smaller as it sailed 
away. Talbot could not see the twins 
red capes on the deck any longer. Soon 
only the sails were left, and as he 
watched, they seemed to slip between the 
sparkling water and the blue sky and 

the ship was gone. 

Of course, Talbot was not left all 
alone. His Aunt Sally Talbot was go¬ 
ing to take care of him as long as he 
stayed in Norfolk. She stood beside 
him while he watched the ship sail away, 
and now that it was gone she said, “We 
had better go home, Talbot, for it will 

soon be dinner time.” 

Talbot liked his Aunt Sally very 


18 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

much, because she had never called him 
Tommy. 

So they wound their way back be¬ 
tween barrels of pork, flour, beef, and 
tobacco, and piles of lumber. These 
cluttered the wharf, waiting to be loaded 
on to ships, which would carry them to 
the West Indies and England. 

Talbot had been interested in ships 
and cargoes ever since his trip from 
England. While he had been in Nor¬ 
folk he had often come to the wharf with 
his father, and sometimes with his Uncle 
Matthew’s servant, Solomon. 

This old negro had been brought 
from the West Indies many years ago. 
He never tired of telling “Lil’ Massa 
Talbot” about the ships and the sea and 
the lands where palm-trees grew and big 
green parrots sat in the trees. 


In Norfolk Town 19 

Talbot and Aunt Sally walked slowly 
back into the town. Soon they came to 
the Market-Place. Here, it being a 
market day, the country people were 
gathered to sell or exchange their farm 
products. Talbot had often come to 
market. He liked to walk between the 
stalls and watch people buy the fresh 
fruits and vegetables from those who 
had them for sale. There were plump 
fowls, too, and fish and oysters fresh 
from the bay. 

Every time Talbot came to market he 
asked about the Fair which was held 
there once a year. The servants had 
told him about it. He was very eager 
for Fair-time to come so that he might 
see for himself. 

To-day, as they passed, he asked once 
more about the pigs with shaved and 


20 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

greased tails, which were turned loose 
for the crowd to catch. 

“And, Aunty,” he said, “where do they 
put the slippery pole with the hat on the 
top?” 

Solomon had told him about the sack- 
races, and the barrel-races, too. Talbot 
wanted to know just where the races 
started. And he stopped to see just how 
far the best runner had ever been able to 
go. 

To-day Aunt Sally was willing to talk 
about anything that pleased him. She 
was thinking about his mother and fa¬ 
ther and the twins sailing away over the 
ocean. She wondered if Talbot would 
be lonely so far away from them. So 
she said, “If you are here, when Fair¬ 
time comes, I shall ask Uncle Matthew 


In Norfolk Town 21 

to take you to see the pigs and the funny 
races.” 

“Oh, Aunty, will you? Oh, I hope it 
comes soon!” he said. Then he remem¬ 
bered the “if” and turning to his aunt he 
asked, “Why won’t I be here at Fair¬ 
time? Didn’t my father say I was to 
stay in Virginia until he came back for 
me. And I must do what my father 
said,” he added in a determined little 
voice. 

Aunt Sally took his hand and tried to 
explain. “You see, Talbot, it was your 
father’s wish that you should pay a visit 
to your Uncle George Huntington s 
plantation.” 

“Where is that, Aunt Sally?” Talbot 
asked. 

“It is a long way from here, up river,” 


22 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Aunt Sally replied. “We shall have to 
find a way for you to make the journey 
safely. Letters go so slowly that it 
takes time to plan for your trip.” 

“Please, Aunt Sally, can’t I wait till 
after the Fair? They don’t have fairs 
on the plantation, do they?” 

“No, Talbot, not fairs, but there will 
be many things for you to see and do on 
the plantation. You’ll like the trip, and 
perhaps,” she added, “you can go part 
of the way on a boat.” 

This interested Talbot. If he were 
going to travel on a ship again, perhaps 
he would like to go. 

“As soon,” Aunt Sally added, “as 
your Uncle Matthew and Captain Dan¬ 
iel come back with our brig from the 
West Indies, we will plan for your trip.” 

“Why, we are nearly to your house,” 


In Norfolk Town 23 

Talbot said. Then he ran ahead to 
open the gate for his aunty. 

A narrow brick walk, between low 
box hedges, led to the front door. The 
white lilacs near the house were be- 



TALBOT OPENS THE GATE 

ginning to bloom. Like most of the 
houses in old Norfolk, this one was built 
of Dutch brick. The walls were very 
thick. The doorway was narrow and 









24 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

near the ground. The windows were 
small. The roof was steep and built in 
the Dutch fashion, with a big chimney 
at each end. 

Talbot ran around to the back. His 
aunt entered through the front door. 
The heavy brass knocker, old Solomon’s 
pride, scattered rays of sunshine in the 
hall. Finding none of the servants in 
the house, she went to look them up. 
They were down by the kitchen—a 
small building at the end of the garden. 

Martha the cook, Becky the maid, 
black Solomon, and Talbot, all were 
bending over something that Solomon 
had in his lap. 

No one noticed Mistress Talbot as she 
came down the covered path. She 
clapped her hands to attract attention 


In Norfolk Town 25 

and exclaimed, “Solomon, what have 
you there?” 

Talbot came running toward her, 
“Oh, Aunt Sally, it’s a goose, a wild 
goose that Solomon shot in the marshes. 
But it’s not dead, only its wing is broken. 
He brought it home to me for a pet. 
May I keep it, please, Aunty, please?” 
Talbot begged, catching hold of her 
hand. 

The old negro stepped forward with 
the big, struggling goose in his arms. 
It flapped and fluttered and stretched 
out its long neck, honking piteously in 
fright and pain. 

“Mis’ Ta’bot, I’se tryin’ to bin’ up de 
wing on dis bird. It fell in de marshes 
and I thought lil’ Massa Ta’bot would 
like to hab it fo’ a pet.” 


26 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

“But, Solomon,” his mistress said, 
“how can we keep a wild goose here?” 

“Missus, we can make a lil’ pen in de 
corner ob de yard and by the time dis 
po’ hurt wing am well, Mister Goose 
will be tame.” And he added, “Hit 
will gib de lil’ Massa sompin ter do now 
dat his mammy and daddy and de chil- 
luns hab lef’ him.” 

This decided it. Mistress Talbot 
smiled and said they might keep the 
goose. Then she told Martha to get 
dinner, and took Becky with her to the 
house. 

Talbot stayed to see what was to be 
done with the goose. 


CHAPTER II 


TALBOT STARTS ON HIS JOURNEY 


O NE morning about a month 
later, Talbot was out early, 
feeding his goose. The hurt 
wing was well now. It had been 
clipped, too, so that the goose could not 
fly. The pet had been named for black 
Solomon. Talbot was trying hard to 
teach it to come when he called and to 
“speak” for its food. 

Mistress Talbot, too, was out early to 
work in her garden. She wore a broad- 
brimmed straw hat and mitts. Her 
flowered sack of shalloon fell loosely 
over a quilted petticoat of light-blue 


27 


28 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

camlet. On her feet were gay red 
morocco shoes. She sang a little song 
as she worked, and she looked as bright 
as a flower. 

Mistress Talbot loved her garden and 
worked to make it bloom from spring to 
fall. First came the jonquils and 
daffodils. These had nearly finished 
blooming now. 

How Betsy and Polly would have 
loved to make tea-sets out of the bright, 
sunny flowers. In spite of the fact that 
they were girls, Talbot missed them very 
much. 

On the shady side of the garden, by 
the old brick wall, lilies-of-the-valley 
were in full flower. All around, the 
periwinkle showed blue stars among 
glossy green leaves. Over where the 
sun shone longest was a bed of moss- 


Talbot Starts on His Journey 29 

pinks. These climbed and spread gay 
pink flowers over rocks which Mistress 
Talbot had piled up to make them feel 
at home. 

Talbot liked Aunt Sally’s wild garden 
best. This was down past the spring- 
house. There a big mimosa-tree shaded 
the little stream trickling from the 
spring. The wind-flowers and dame’s 
violets and the tiny blue innocence grew 
and bloomed as cheerily here as though 
they had never been transplanted from 
the woods. Talbot had found these 
wild flowers blooming before any others 
in the garden. 

This morning after he tired of teach¬ 
ing Solomon, he went over where Aunt 
Sally was transplanting hollyhocks. 
She let him dig some of the holes and 
water the young plants. 


30 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Talbot liked to work, and begged 
Aunt Sally to let him help. She prom¬ 
ised to do this as soon as he was sure 
which of the little green shoots were 
flowers. “When you can tell the young 
plants from the weeds, you may weed 
the flower-beds,” she told him. 

Then they wandered over to the bed 
where larkspur, candytuft, lady slip¬ 
pers, snapdragons, and clove-pinks 
were growing. Talbot could name 
nearly all of these without a mistake. 
Then Aunt Sally tried him on the herb- 
bed where she grew feverfew, camomile, 
and pennyroyal. These were harder to 
remember, and Talbot gave up. 

“You have done well this morning,” 
Aunt Sally said, “and you may soon 
help me weed the beds. Now, run 
and tell Martha to send up breakfast for 


Talbot Starts on His Journey 31 

us.” And Talbot flew off to the kitchen. 

Mistress Talbot stopped to gather a 
nosegay of heartsease, with their quaint 
little faces she loved so, adding sprays of 
lilies-of-the-valley. She sang to herself 
as she picked her flowers, and did not 
hear the front gate open and close. 

Two men hurried up the walk to the 
door. They did not wait to knock, but 
walked in at once, through the house 
and out again at the back door, which 
was standing open. The first thing 
Mistress Talbot knew about it was a big 
cheery voice calling into the garden. 
“Good morning, Mistress Talbot.” 
Then she knew her husband had come 
home. 

Talbot coming back from the kitchen 
heard men’s voices in the house. He 
stopped in the hall to be sure where the 


32 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

voices came from. Then a jolly laugh 
rang out in the front room. He guessed 
right away that Uncle Matthew had 
come to surprise them and that the brig 
was in. 

Running to the doorway, Talbot saw 
Aunt Sally sitting on the arm of Uncle 
Matthew’s chair. She had her arm 
around his shoulder. The nosegay of 
lilies and heartsease was still in her 
hand. She was too happy about the 
surprise to remember the flowers. 
There was another man, too. A big, 
sunburned, pleasant-looking man, talk¬ 
ing to Aunt Sally. 

Uncle Matthew spied Talbot, “Why, 
here’s the boy! How are you, lad? 
They tell me you have a trained goose,” 
he said, and put out a hand to greet him 
in quite a grown-up fashion. 


Talbot Starts on His Journey 33 

Talbot, in spite of an eagerness to 
talk about his goose, shook hands, and 
made a trim bow, as he had been taught 
to do. “I am so glad you are home, 
Uncle Matthew. Aunt Sally said you 
would take me to the Fair when you 
came back,” he said. 

“And so I shall, lad, when Fair-time 
comes,” he laughed. “This, Captain 
Daniel, is my nephew. A fine boy, eh? 
Quite a man to stay here in Virginia by 
himself.” 

And Talbot made another bow to the 
Captain. 

Just then Mistress Talbot heard 
Becky in the dining-room. 

“Go, Talbot; tell Becky we have com¬ 
pany to breakfast. And here,” she 
said, “take these flowers to her for the 
table.” 


34 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

A little later they were seated around 
the breakfast table in the pleasant 
dining-room. The sun came through 
the windows looking out upon the gar¬ 
den. The dark, rich wainscoted walls 
fairly shone in the bright light. The 
table was laid with fine china and silver. 
There was an abundance of good food. 
The four lingered over their meal. 
There was much to tell, the news of the 
town, and the events of the trip. Talbot 
listened and had a chance to tell, too, 
about Solomon, the goose. Every one 
agreed that never before had there been 
a goose that could speak for its food and 
come when called. 

The breakfast was finally interrupted 
by the arrival of a travel-stained mes¬ 
senger from Myrtle Hill Plantation. 
He came with a letter from Mr. Hunt- 


Talbot Starts on His Journey 35 

ington and was to carry back the reply. 
Talbot guessed that the letter was about 
him, and he wanted to stay and hear, but 
Aunt Sally said, “Go, tell Martha to 
give the man who brought the letter a 
good breakfast. Show him the way to 
the kitchen, and if you come back 
quickly you may hear the letter.” 

Talbot did his errand and hurried 
back to hear the news. The letter was 
about his visit, as he had guessed. Of 
course his Uncle George wanted him 
for a visit, and a long one, too. If Mr. 
Matthew Talbot could arrange to send 
young Talbot Tucker as far as Hobb s 
Landing, some one would meet him 
there. 

There was a lot of talking and plan¬ 
ning. Captain Daniel helped. In a 
week’s time the Captain would be going 


36 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

up river. Talbot could go with him as 
far as Hobb’s Landing. 

“Then I’m to go in the brig. Hur¬ 
rah !” Talbot shouted, jumping up and 
down with joy. And so it was decided. 



THE BRIG 


The week before the journey passed 
quickly. Talbot was so excited that he 
quite forgot the Fair he had been look¬ 
ing forward to. Uncle Matthew took 
him several times to see the brig. It 



















Talbot Starts on His Journey 37 

was a busy time at the wharf. Piled 
everywhere were the hogsheads of 
sugar, molasses, and fruits from the 
West Indies which the brig was to carry 
up the river to the planters. Flour, 
beef, and pork would be exchanged 
for it. 

Everywhere negroes lounged in the 
sun 01 rolled great casks and bags on to 
the ship. They chanted weird melodies 
as they worked. The sun beat down; 
odors of the cargo mingled with those of 
old wooden piles rotted by the wash of 
salt water. Talbot loved the heat and 
the noise and decided that he would like 
to be a sailor. 

At home there was but little to do to 
get Talbot ready for the journey. Aunt 
Sally freshened and mended his clothes. 
She let him help pack his own little 


38 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

trunk. He expected to take the goose 
with him, and until the last day thought 
that he could. There were a good 
many tears shed when Talbot under¬ 
stood that his Uncle George had not in¬ 
vited Solomon. The old negro prom¬ 
ised to take care of his pet until “LiP 
Massa” came back. This comforted 
Talbot somewhat. 

The day to leave came at last. Tal¬ 
bot’s little trunk went aboard the brig 
early. Just before sailing-time, Uncle 
Matthew came back to the house to get 
Talbot. Aunt Sally went to the wharf 
with them. Talbot went aboard with 
Captain Daniel at once. 

He heard a shouting of orders, con¬ 
fusion, and noise everywhere, and saw 
hurrying sailors getting the ship under 
weigh. The great sails cracked and 


Talbot Starts on His Journey 39 

snapped. Before he knew they had 
started, Talbot saw the wharf begin to 
move away. Aunt Sally and Uncle 
Matthew were waving good-bye. 

Talbot waved his hat and shouted as 
long as he could see Aunt Sally’s hand¬ 
kerchief. When the wharves and the 

% 

houses were hidden behind a point of 
land, Talbot felt that he had really 
started on his journey. 


CHAPTER III 


TRAVELLING 

jREAT coach lumbered over 



rough Virginia road. It 


was a very gay coach and 


shiny-new. The body was painted 
bright green and the wheels yellow. It 
stood so high off the road that without 
the two little steps which let down on 
each side it would have been very hard 
to get in and out of it. 

The driver’s seat was high up in the 
front. There sat Sam, the coachman, 
and a little boy he called Swift. Both 
were as black as the four fine horses 
which drew the coach. They were 
dressed in livery to match the coach; 


40 


INSIDE THE COACH, ALL BY HIMSELF 


T ravelling 


4i 



























42 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

green coats, yellow vests, and broad 
three-cornered hats. The sun sparkling 
on their buttons and the harness of the 
horses made a gay picture as they drove 
along the wild, lonely road. 

Talbot was inside the coach, all by 
himself. He had bumped and jolted 
over the road since morning, and was 
very tired and wished for some one to 
talk to. 

This was his first trip in a coach with 
four horses. At first he felt very impor¬ 
tant sitting in the middle of the green 
leather seat with his feet resting on his 
little brown trunk. He slipped and 
slid on the shiny new leather from one 
side of the seat to the other, as the coach 
rocked from side to side. 

Then he got tired and climbed up on 
his knees to look out of the tiny window 


43 


T ravelling 

in the back of the coach. He thought 
it must have been hours that he watched 
the road unwind back of him and get 
narrower and narrower, until it disap¬ 
peared in the sky. 

He couldn’t see the bumps until after 
the coach was over them. Once they 
struck a big one that sent him up against 
the top of the coach with such a whack 
that his little cocked beaver hat was 
pushed down over his eyes. 

That hurt most awfully, and he 
wanted to cry. Then he remembered 
he was grown-up enough to travel alone 
and Sam might hear. But Sam kept on 
driving, never stopping once to look 
back to see how little “Marse” Talbot 
was getting along. 

Then Talbot tried lying down on the 
seat, and in spite of the bumps and rock- 


44 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

ing of the coach, he must have gone to 
sleep. 

He dreamed he was again on the boat 
that had brought him from Norfolk. 
He was out on the deck with Captain 
Daniel who let him stand by the wheel 
as he steered the boat from one side of 
the river to the other, so the wind would 
fill out the big white sails. They 
stopped at wharves where they loaded 
and unloaded great boxes and bales, with 
lots of noise and calling and shouting 
among the sailors and the negroes. 
The Captain let him watch from a 
distance where he wouldn’t get hurt 
or be in the way. Once the boat 
bumped into a wharf so hard that he was 
knocked down. Captain Daniel said it 
was because he didn’t have good 
sea-legs. 


Travelling 45 

Just here Talbot woke up on the floor 
of the coach. He had bounced off the 
seat in his sleep, slid across the top of 
his own little trunk, and landed on his 
best beaver hat as he fell. 

The coach stopped and outside he 
could hear voices. 

“Yes, suh. This is Marse Hunting¬ 
ton’s new coach. The Lucy Lee done 
brung her from London on her las’ 
trip. 

“The livery, suh, that Swift an’ me is 
wearin’, war made in London, suh.” 

Then another voice said, “Yes, it is 
very nice, Sam. Are you out just to 
show off the Colonel’s coach?” 

“Laws no, suh, I’se carryin’ little 
Marse Talbot to his uncle, suh.” 

“Have you really got a little boy shut 
up in there?” 


46 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

The door opened and Master Talbot 
looked out at a pleasant-faced man in 
riding-breeches of doeskin, worn with a 
blue coat which hung to his knees, open¬ 
ing over a scarlet vest. His cocked hat 
sat squarely on his white wig. Wide- 
topped brown leather boots reached 
high up on his thighs. He smiled at the 
little boy and helped him down the steps 
to the ground. 

“Good day, sir,” he said. “So you are 
making a journey to see your uncle, Mr. 
George Huntington?” 

“Yes, sir. I’m Talbot Matthew 
Tucker. I have come from Norfolk, 
—ever so far away—on a boat. When 
shall I get to my uncle’s house, sir?” 

The nice man laughed and looked 
down at the little traveller and seemed to 
understand how long the trip had been. 




T ravelling 47 

“Would you like to stretch your legs 
a little?” 

“Yes, sir,” Talbot said. For indeed 
it had been a long time since he had 
walked on good, steady ground. There 
had been the boat trip, you see, and then 
the long ride in the coach. 

Sam felt safe in letting his charge go 
off with his new friend, for it was young 
Mr. Johns, who lived not far away on the 
next plantation to his master’s, and often 
was a visitor at “Marse” George’s home. 


CHAPTER IV 


AT THE INN 


T ALBOT and his new friend 
went across the road towards 
a small building made of 
hewed logs held together with white 
plaster. Great .stone chimneys rose at 
each end. Beside the door hung a sign 
with a big white crow painted on it. 

“I never saw a white crow,” said the 
little boy. “In Norfolk all the crows 
are black.” 

“So they are here,—but inns often 
have queer signs. This one says ‘White 
Crow Ordinary.’ That means an inn,” 
Mr. Johns explained. “There are only 
a few of them about here, and they are 

48 



WHITE CROW ORDINARY 


At the Inn 


49 





































































50 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

poor shelter for a traveller. But it does 
not matter, for the door of every gentle¬ 
man’s house is open to a stranger in this 
part of the world.” 

“Where is this part of the world?” 
Talbot asked. 

“Why, Virginia, lad.” 

“But I’ve travelled so far, on a boat 
and all,—I thought I would be some¬ 
where else.” 

“You could travel many days, and go 
on boats up many rivers and still be in 
Virginia. Once,” he said, “I went 
far out over the mountains into a great 
wide valley, and it was all in Virginia. 
T saw Indians and bears, and had to ride 
through forests where no white man had 
been before. We cut marks on the trees 
with our axes so we could find our way 
home. It was a rough trip and I was 



At the Inn 


51 

glad to get back into my own part of the 
land.” 

By that time they were inside of the 
Inn. Mr. Johns and Talbot seated 
themselves at one of the long, rough 
wooden tables, on a bench which was too 
high for Talbot, so he swung his feet. 

The room was nearly all of the down¬ 
stairs part of the house. There was 
sand on the floor, and there were great 
rafters overhead, black with smoke. At 
one end was the fireplace, where the 
cooking was done. A big iron pot 
hung from a rod, and several little pots 
and kettles sat near the coals on little 
three-legged iron stands. 

A man, in coarse brown breeches and 
shirt which was none too clean, with a 
crumpled stock about his neck, came to 
take the order. Talbot looked at him 


52 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

very hard. This was the first time he 
had ever been in an ordinary, and he 
wanted to see all he could. In Norfolk 
he was never allowed to go into one, for 
Aunt Sally had said they were coarse, 
common places for rough men. 

It made him feel very grown-up to be 
sitting waiting for his order. He had 
heard his friend say, “Ale for me and 
apples for the boy.” This was just what 
Talbot wanted. He had eaten a fine 
dinner with Captain Daniel, but he al¬ 
ways had room for an apple. 

He thought he ought to say something 
to Mr. Johns, so he reached into his 
pocket and drew out a very large knife 
which he held up proudly. 

“I have a knife,” he said. “Captain 
Daniel gave it to me when I left the ship 


At the Inn 


53 


to-day. I never had a knife before. 
Aunt Sally said I would cut myself. 
Men don’t seem to think about that.” 

Indeed men felt differently from Aunt 
Sally about many things, it seemed to 
Talbot. 

Just then the innkeeper brought the 
ale in a big stone pitcher, and with it 
a pewter mug and a large bowl of apples. 
He poured the ale and passed the fruit 
to the boy. 

“Joe, has the mail come through yet?” 
Mr. Johns asked. 

“No, sir. Not since Mr. Taylor rode 
by and took all of Mr. Huntington’s, sir. 
That was more than ten days ago. They 
tell me the post has been held up by 
bad weather and washed-out roads up 
country.” 


54 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

“Old Jake takes his time, I think,— 
stops off to visit along the way,” Mr. 
Johns said. 

Talbot wasn’t listening very carefully, 
for he was busy making little teeth- 
marks all around the top of his very red 
apple. Aunt Sally never let him do this, 
but his pleasant friend wouldn’t say any¬ 
thing, he felt sure. 

After a while Mr. Johns said to Tal¬ 
bot, “Sam will be wanting to start. 
There is still a long way between here 
and Myrtle Hill. These roads are none 
too good to travel after dark. There is 
one piece of a mile or so, straight 
through the woods, and it grows dark 
there soon. Let’s be off, lad. Here, 
put an apple in each pocket. You may 
be hungry before supper-time.” 

Then he knocked his mug on the 


At the Inn 


55 

table and Joe came back to take his pay. 
The two travellers went to look up Sam 
and Swift. 

Sam was already on the box; Swift 
was holding the bridles of the front 
horses, and everything was ready for the 
start. 

“Laws, Mr. Johns! I done feared 
you neber was cornin’. Hyar I sit, 
frettin’ foh to start, wid all dis way 
’tween us an’ home. I promised to get 
little Marse home foh his supper. 
Missus, she’ll think he’s los’.” 

“All right, Sam. Here we are.” 

“I’m sorry, Talbot, that I can’t keep 
you company. I’m riding in the other 
direction,” Mr. Johns said. 

“I’d like to ride with Sam, if you 
please,” Talbot said. 

“Sam, let Master Talbot sit with you 


56 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

on the box,” the gentleman said, helping 
the little boy up to the high seat beside 
Sam. Mr. Johns told Talbot to hold 
tight, and then said good-bye to him. 

Swift mounted one of the horses, and 
before Talbot could thank his friend for 
the apples, the horses started, and all he 
could do was wave his good-bye. As 
the road turned, he could see Mr. Johns 
waving his hat till he was out of sight 
behind the White Crow Ordinary. 


CHAPTER V 

THE END OF THE JOURNEY 

T HE country seemed to be 
all hills. Once when they 
reached the top of a very steep 
one, Sam stopped the horses and Talbot 
had time to look around. The land 
looked like a quilt with many dark spots. 
He knew these were woods. There was 
not a house to be seen. Off to one side 
a river flowed like a silver ribbon. Sam 
told him the river was “Shallow Creek” 
and that they had to cross it before they 
got home. 

“In a boat, Sam?” 

“No, chile. We rides right through 


57 


58 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 



A RIGHT SMART FINE HOUSE 






























The End of the Journey 59 

it,—dat is, when the water ain’t too 
high.” 

“Sam, are there any houses in Vir- 

* * *~^yy 

giniar 

“Laws yes, Marse Talbot. Der is 
so. You can’t see ’em, ’case dey is off 
de road,—hid in de trees. I’ll show 
you a fine house soon. It ain’t no finer 
than Marse George’s, but hit am a right 
smart fine house.” 

It was growing quite dusk when Sam 
pointed out the house. Talbot could 
just see the roof through the trees and 
get a glimpse of the small houses near it, 
which Sam called the “quarters.” 

They crossed Shallow Creek soon af¬ 
ter this and Talbot thought it was great 
fun to see the horses splash in the water. 
Swift turned around and said the water 
was nearly up to the hubs of the wheels. 




60 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

That was really very high, and almost 
touched the bottom of the coach. 

After this there was a long stretch of 
road through the woods. Talbot could 
feel the coolness, and it was dark before 
they were out in the open again. Once 
he heard an owl, and saw some little ani¬ 
mal hurry away from the side of the road 
as the coach went along. 

Soon Sam said, “Now we is a-comin’ 
to our own place. Jes’ a little piece mo’, 
an’ we’ll pass de tobacco barns an’ de 
mill.” 

But it was too dark to see anything. 
Talbot was very sleepy, and his eyes just 
would go shut. He was holding on 
tight, but he must have nodded, for Sam 
said: 

“Wake up, little Marsel Dar is de 
Great House,—up yonder on de hill. 


The End of the Journey 6l 

See de lights. Lawsy me, if I don’ hyar 
de fiddle!” 

And then before Talbot knew it, the 
coach stopped in front of the house and 
somebody’s strong arms were lifting him 
off the box. They set him down inside 
of the big door and he blinked in the 
candle-light. He tried very hard to re¬ 
member what Aunt Sally had told him 
to do as soon as he saw his uncle, but he 
wasn’t at all sure which was his uncle, 
and he was too sleepy to remember what 
he was to say. 

There were so many people about 
him. The gentlemen wore such gay 
clothes and white wigs. The candle¬ 
light made their great silver shoe- 
buckles and the buttons on their coats 
shine so. There were ladies, too. He 
thought them very beautiful in their 


62 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

flowered silk sacks and bright quilted 
petticoats. These rustled when they 
walked. They had laughing, happy 
voices, that sounded like birds all talk¬ 
ing at once. One of them had kissed 
him when he first came into the hall. 
He guessed this was his Aunt Margery 
Huntington. 

Talbot just stood and looked at one 
and then another of the gay company, 
with his little beaver hat tucked under 
his arm. Then the lady who had 
greeted him clapped her hands and told 
the black boy, who bobbed up from no¬ 
where, to fetch Mammy. Mammy came 
shuffling into the hall. She was big and 
black and very smiling. She dropped 
curtseys to all the ladies and gentlemen, 
and when she recognized one of them 


The End of the Journey 63 

she said, “Evenin’, Miss Betty,” or 
“Evenin’, Marse Harry.” 

“Mammy,” said her mistress, “this is 
Master Talbot Matthew Tucker. He 



“this is master talbot” 


wants his supper and bed. He has had 
a long, long trip and is very tired.” 

And to Talbot she said, “Good night, 
my child. Mammy will take care of 
you. 















64 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

The lovely lady kissed him again on 
the top of his curls and tripped off with 
her gay companions, leaving Mammy 
and her charge alone in the great hall. 
Mammy took him into another room 
and between his nods and blinks, fed 
him warm milk and bread out of a silver 
bowl with a little handle on one side. 
He was too sleepy to mind being babied, 
and sat back in Mammy’s broad lap and 
forgot all about how grown-up he had 
been at the Inn. 

He must have been asleep before 
Mammy got him into the great bed, and 
he didn’t know that his aunt and uncle 
had come up to look at him after the 
dance was over, and the candles in the 
hall were all put out. 


CHAPTER VI 


GETTING ACQUAINTED 

W HEN Talbot opened his eyes 

next morning, he wasn’t 
quite sure where he was. 
All he could see was a sunbeam danc¬ 
ing on the white ceiling. He looked 
around and found he was in the middle 
of a very large bed. It was a wonder¬ 
fully soft bed, made out of feathers, he 
was sure, just like Aunt Sally’s bed in 
Norfolk. He did not sleep in the great 
bed there, but in a little trundle-bed that 
was pulled out from under the great bed 
at night, and pushed back out of sight in 

the daytime. Talbot felt all grown-up 

65 


66 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

again, sleeping in a great bed instead of 
a trundle-bed. He wished Betsy and 
Polly could see him. 

While he was thinking all this, he had 
been lying quite still, looking at the yel- 



THE GREAT BED 

low bed curtains and the beautiful quilt 
with great red tulips on it. Then he 
heard dogs barking and wondered 
where they were. He thought he 
















Getting Acquainted 67 

would like to get up to see, but he wasn’t 
quite sure that he ought not to wait for 
some one to come. So he lay still a little 
longer. But the birds were singing out 
of doors and he wanted very much to see 
what was outside of the yellow curtains. 

He tried one side of the bed, and put 
his head out to see. The floor was a 
long way off and he didn’t see his clothes. 
There was only a straight little chair and 
a big chest of drawers against the wall. 
In Norfolk Aunt Sally had three little 
steps to put beside her bed, and Talbot 
wondered if there would be any here. 
He tried the other side. Sure enough, 
there were the three little steps on that 
side, and over on a chair, he saw his 
clothes. He climbed out of the great 
bed and looked around the room. 

It was a very large room, he thought. 


68 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

There were two windows and a fire¬ 
place. Under one of the windows was 
a big wooden chest with brass handles. 
Beside it was his own little brown leather 
trunk. In the corner was a stand with 
a bowl and pitcher of blue-and-white 
china. Over the stand, hung a mirror. 
Talbot could just see his fingers wiggle 
in it when he stood on tiptoe with his 
hands over his head. 

Outside it looked very pleasant. 
Through one of the windows he could 
see the garden and beyond it some small 
white houses. Out of the other he could 
see a beautiful green lawn and lots of 
trees. 

He thought he would like to go out. 
It would not take him long to dress. He 
went to his little trunk and had trouble 
with the strap, but he finally got it open. 


Getting Acquainted 69 

There wasn’t much in it. A few clean 
shifts, or shirts of fine linen, some fine 
woolen stockings and a pair of thread 
silk ones for best. These went with his 
morocco leather pumps with the silver 
buckles. He had some cambric hand¬ 
kerchiefs and fine linen neck-cloths. 
One of the neck-cloths had lace on 
the ends, and he always wore it with his 
best suit. 

He was very proud of this best suit, 
which was of bright blue silk and had a 
flowered waistcoat. Aunt Sally had 
made it for him in the latest style. The 
cut of it was the same as a grown man’s 
suit, for boys dressed like their fathers 
then. Tommy loved the silver buttons, 
and the lace ruffles at the wrists. The 
coat was full-skirted and had big cuffs 
and pocket-flaps and came down to his 


70 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

knees. His breeches were tight, and 
fastened at the knees with silver buckles. 

He wanted very much to wear this 
suit the first morning at his uncle’s 
house, but thought perhaps he had bet¬ 
ter not. So he put on a clean shift and 
his every-day suit of brown kersey. 
When he was all dressed, he felt in his 
pocket to see if his precious knife was 
there, and then started out to see his new 
home. 

Outside his room he felt a little fright¬ 
ened. No one seemed to be about and 
the doors upstairs were closed. Out¬ 
side of one of the doors were two pairs 
of boots put out to be cleaned. 

He started down the wide stairs on 
tiptoe. His shoes, which were the work 
of a travelling cobbler, were stiff and 
squeaky and made more noise than he 


Getting Acquainted 71 

wished. There was a wide shining rail 
to the stairs that Talbot thought must 
have been made just for boys to slide 
down on. He wanted very much to try 
it at once. 

Finding no one downstairs, he set out 
to look in the rooms. The doors were 
open, all except the front and back 
doors. These were shut tight and the 
great brass keys were turned in the 
locks. The light came in over the front 
door, through a window shaped like a 
fan. It made a pattern on the white 
walls of paneled woodwork. On the 
walls were candles in brass holders. 

There were four open doors through 
which he might go to explore. He 
chose the nearest one and walked into 
a large room with four windows that 
reached to the floor and no furniture but 


72 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

a few chairs and a musical instrument 
in one corner, which later Talbot 
learned was a spinet. The floor was 
highly polished and he thought it must 
be the room where they were having the 
dance last night. He walked all around 
it. The curtains were still drawn across 
the windows, and that kept it from being 
very light. On the walls were portraits 
of ladies and gentlemen. In one cor¬ 
ner, on the floor, he found a little bow 
of blue ribbon. He guessed that one of 
the lovely ladies he had seen last night 
had dropped it, so he picked it up. The 
candles had burned very low and under 
one was a little pile of wax that had 
dripped down. It stuck tight to the 
floor. He thought his knife would help 
get it up, but fortunately for the polished 
floor his knife wouldn’t open. There 


Getting Acquainted 73 

was nothing more to see in that room, so 
he tried another. 

Talbot was sure this was the dining¬ 
room. There was a long table and 
many high-backed chairs. On the side¬ 
board were silver and glass that shone 
in the morning sunshine. He didn’t 
even know the names of all the things he 
saw. Over the sideboard hung a big 
round mirror in a gilt frame with can¬ 
dles on each side of it. 

Down beside one of the chairs was 
something white, and Talbot picked it 
up. It was a wig. He had never seen 
a wig off any one’s head before and he 
thought it very funny. He had wanted 
a wig to wear with his blue suit, but 
Aunt Sally had said he was too young. 
Some day, when he was grown up, she 
had promised to get him one. He won- 


74 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

dered how he would look in a wig. 
Why not try this one on now? 

He climbed up in a chair before the 
round mirror and put the wig on. It 
was much too big and poked out in front, 
and one side got caught on his ear. He 
was so busy getting it on that he did not 
notice a young man who came into the 
room. Talbot worked and worked to 
get the wig straight, and when he did it 
came away down over his eyes and he 
couldn’t see himself. Just then a hearty 
laugh surprised him so that he nearly 
fell off the chair. 

“So you want to wear a wig, do you? 
Mine is too big, I fear,” said a nice voice. 

The little boy standing on the chair 
with a white wig covering half of his 
face must have been very funny, for the 
man laughed again. 


Getting Acquainted 75 

By this time Talbot had it off and 
saw a young man in a striped dressing- 
coat, and a small, close cap on his head. 

“I am very sorry, sir. I didn’t know 
it was your wig.” 

“That’s all right, son. You see,” he 
added, “last night after the ladies left us, 
we sat late, and I didn’t remember until 
this morning that I had taken my wig 
off.” 

Talbot liked to have men talk to him 
in a grown-up way. He jumped down 
from the chair and handed the man his 
wig. 

“My name is Talbot Matthew 
Tucker. I came last night to visit my 
uncle. What is your name, sir?” 

“If you will let me call you Tommy 
Tucker, you may call me Jim.” 

“Why, that is what ’most every one 


76 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

wants to call me.” Talbot said in a 
disappointed voice. “How did you 
know?” 

“Oh, it just seemed to me,” Jim said, 
“that Tommy Tucker was about the 
right-size name for you.” 

“But I’ll be eight years old soon,” 
Talbot replied. 

“Oh, you will fit your long name soon 
enough, Master Talbot, but won’t you 
let me call you Tommy? I like it bet¬ 
ter,” Jim said. 

“Yes,” Talbot answered, “if you want 
to very much.” So it was decided, and 
while he stayed on the plantation they 
called him Tommy. 

“What are you doing up so early, 
Tommy?” Jim asked. 

“I woke up and wanted to see things,” 
said Tommy. “I have already seen one 


Getting Acquainted 77 

big, empty room and this one. I have 
two more rooms to go through.” 

“I see you mean to miss nothing, 
young man. I think this is much too 
nice a morning to stay indoors. If you 
will wait for me, we will go and explore 
outside together. You seem to have 
seen all there is inside.” 

“No, sir. There are two more 
rooms,” said Tommy. 

“Well, look about while I put on my 
boots and coat, and we will go out to¬ 
gether.” Then the friendly young man 
left Tommy alone. 

Tommy went to the third door. In 
this room was a black fireplace that was 
very shiny. The logs were laid for a 
fire but had not been lighted. There 
was a great chair, with high back and 
winged sides covered with red leather, 


78 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

beside the fireplace. There were many 
books in tall cases. But the wall-paper 
pleased Tommy most of all. There 
were pictures of ships sailing the high 
seas, all over it. 

There was one more room, and the 
little boy thought he had better peep into 
it before Jim came down. This was a 
small room with one window. A tall 
desk reached nearly to the ceiling. The 
top part of this desk had glass doors 
made in little panes shaped like dia¬ 
monds. There were green curtains 
back of them, and so he couldn’t see 
what was inside. Down low it had two 
other doors. There were just two 
chairs in the room and Tommy didn’t 
know what kind of a room it was. He 
would ask Jim later. 

Just then he heard some one coming 


Getting Acquainted 79 

down the steps and he hoped it was Jim. 
If the young man had not called, 
“Hello, Tommy Tucker,” he would 
not have known him. His wig made 
him look very different, and so did his 
blue silk coat and nankeen breeches. 
Together they went out the big front 
door into the bright morning sunlight. 


CHAPTER VII 


OUTSIDE THE GREAT. HOUSE 

J IM and Tommy walked down a 
gravel path which led over the 
green lawn toward a group of 
small houses not far away. The dew 
was still on the grass and it sparkled in 
the sunlight. A bird sang in a lilac- 
bush. They stopped to listen, for it was 
a mocking-bird trying its sweetest songs. 
Then the dogs began to bark. 

“Are we going to see the dogs?” 
Tommy asked. “I heard them this 
morning early.” 

“Yes,” Jim said. “I am going to 
show you the hounds. They are as fine 

80 


Outside the Great House 81 


a pack as you will find in all Virginia. 
My father is very proud of them.” 

“Do they belong to my uncle?” said 
the little boy. 

“Yes, of course.” 

Tommy was quiet as they walked 
along. He was thinking. 

“Th en you are my cousin, aren’t 
you, Jim?” 

“Of course, lad. Didn’t you know 
it?” 

“No,” said Tommy. “You didn’t 
tell me any name but ‘Jim.’ How could 
I know?” 

“Well, we are cousins, and I like it 
very well,” said Jim. 

By this time the two of them were 
getting close to the kennels where the 
dogs were kept. The hounds set up a 
great barking as they came near. 


82 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Tommy was just a little frightened, but 
Jim told him they couldn’t get out and 
he needn’t mind the noise. 

As they passed the coach-house, 
Tommy saw Sam. He was not dressed 
up in the gay livery he wore when driv¬ 
ing, but was in striped cotton breeches, 
a coarse linen shirt, and a big leather 
apron. 

“Mornin’, Marse James. Mornin’, 
little Marse. How is you dis mornin’ 
after yo’ long trip yes’erday?” Sam 
asked with a broad grin on his black 
face. 

“Master Talbot is getting acquainted. 
We have come to look at the pack. They 
seem restless this morning,” Jim said. 

“Yes, suh. Dey’s pinin’ foh a run, 
suh,” Sam replied. 

Jim and Tommy went up to the en- 







































84 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

closure to look at the dogs. Jim called 
them by name and spoke a word to each 
one. 

“Yes, you fellows want a run, don’t 
you?” he said to them. “You’ll have to 
wait for cold weather, I’m afraid.” 

“Nothing can compare with fox¬ 
hunting for sport,” he said to Tommy. 
“Some day, when you are older, you will 
know all about it. I’ll bring you 
the tail from the first hunt,” he boasted, 
and then added “if I have any luck.” 

“Thank you, sir,” said Tommy. 

“Don’t you think you could call your 
cousin by his name?” asked Jim. “Save 
the ‘sir’ for father. I like just Jim.” 

“So do I, Jim,” Tommy answered. 

“Let’s go look at the horses next,” Jim 
said. 

The stable where Mr. Huntington 


Outside the Great House 85 

kept his fine horses, his racers and 
hunters and coach-horses, was just a 
little way from the kennels. They 
walked slowly over to it and went in 
through the big doors. 

There were several black boys doing 
chores about the stalls. Jim called for 
David, who was in charge of the stable. 
He was a white man, and later on 
Tommy learned that he was a bonded 
servant who was working out his time 
and looking forward to freedom. 

“David, I have brought my cousin 
Master Talbot down to see our horses,” 
said Jim. “We shall have to teach him 
to ride and make a first-class horseman 
out of him. How is my mare this morn¬ 
ing?” Jim asked David. 

“Doing well, sir. I walked her out 
this morning and she scarcely limps.” 


86 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

“What happened to her?” Tommy 
asked. 

“I was riding her hard across the fields 
last week, to get in ahead of a storm, and 
she stepped into a hole and lamed a front 
leg. David has fixed her up for me and 
I’ll be riding her soon, I hope.” 

“Tommy, I want you to see the fastest 
horse in the country,” Jim said. “Last 
month she won all the honors at the Old 
Field Track where the races were held. 
Isn’t she a beauty?” 

“What is her name?” Tommy asked, 
as he reached up to pet her velvety nose. 

“Mother named her ‘Dreamer’ when 
she was just a filly. She had such 
gentle, dreamy, brown eyes, mother said. 
But she is no dreamer on the tracks. 
You ought to have seen her run, Tommy. 
My! we were proud. Let’s be going, 


Outside the Great House 87 

now. Perhaps we can see the garden 
before it is time for breakfast,” Jim said. 

The two then went out between the 
rows of stalls, each of which held a beau¬ 
tiful, well-cared-for horse. Jim knew 
them all by name, and patted and spoke 
to them in his friendly way. 

When they passed the coach-house 
again, Sam had the great green coach 
outside, washing the dust and mud from 
the wheels and polishing it, so that it 
shone like new. 

They went up a path toward the gar¬ 
den, and Tommy had his first real view 
of the Great House of Myrtle Hill Plan¬ 
tation. It was built of red brick with 
white wooden trimmings and sat in the 
pleasantest way on the green lawn 
among tulip, oak, and chestnut trees. 
The driveway circled around in front of 


88 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

the door on the land side of the house. 

Lilac-bushes and smaller shrubs were 
planted around the buildings. There 
were two great chimneys of brick at 
either end of the Great House. These 
made fireplaces possible in every room. 
Open fires were the only means of heat¬ 
ing the Great House. The smaller 
buildings near by, Jim told Tommy, 
were the kitchen, the smoke-house, the 
store-room and the spring-house. He 
promised to show them to him later on. 

At each side of the house was a gar¬ 
den, closed in by a low brick wall. 
Nearest them was the vegetable garden, 
and on the other end was the flower 
garden. They saw an old negro work¬ 
ing in the trim beds. 

Jim called, “Good morning, Uncle 
Isaac. How are your crops?” 


Outside the Great House 89 

“Better dan I is, Marse James. Dis 
ole man am moughty po’ly, thank de 
Lawd.” 

“Uncle Isaac always says that, 
Tommy. But he is a very old man. 
Father took him out of the fields last 
year to let him work in Mother’s garden, 
because he is too feeble for heavy work.” 

They walked around by the kitchen 
and Jim said he smelled breakfast. Just 
then Mammy came out of the kitchen. 
When she saw the two, she threw her 
hands over her turbaned head and 
called out: 

“Ah mought a-knowed Marse Jim 
would be up to somepin. Hyah I bin 
lookin’, an’ lookin’ foh little Marse, and 
Marse Jim done took him out. Laws, 
Honey, Ah hab worrit mahself. Ah 
goes into little Marse’s room ’spectin’ to 


90 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

wake him up. Ah looks in ’tween de 
curtins, an’ mah chile am done gone. 
Ole Mammy she wuz skeered to move. 
Den she think, ‘Little Marse he play a 
trick on Mammy, like Marse Jim an’ 
Marse Henry useter do.’ So Ah ’pears 
to be lookin’, ’spectin’ a little voice to 
call out, Boo! at Ole Mammy, tryin’ to 
make her jump. An’ Ah don’ hear no 
soun’. Den Ah looks foh his clo’s.” 

Jim and Tommy were laughing now, 
but poor Mammy had really thought 
that some one had carried off her “chile,” 
clothes and all, and she didn’t think it 
funny. 

“Mammy, did you think the ha’nts’ 
had taken him?” Jim asked, still 
laughing. 

“You go ’long, Marse Jim. Stop dat 
teasin’ yo’ old Mammy. She done 


Outside the Great House 91 

promus her Missus to take keer ob little 
Marse and she gwine ter do hit. 
Go ’long to yo’ brekfus, both you 
chilluns!” 


CHAPTER VIII 


HELPING 


N OT many weeks went by be¬ 
fore Tommy Tucker felt very 
much at home in the Great 
House, with his cousins. They were all 
“grown-ups” to him, though none of 
them was so very old. There were four 
Huntington cousins, Henry, Lucy, 
Margaret, and Jim. 

The oldest of his cousins, Henry, was 
not at home. He had gone to England 
to school and would not come back to 
Virginia until his studies were finished. 
In the ball-room hung a beautiful 
new portrait of Henry in a plum-colored 

92 


Helping 93 

silk suit with lace ruffles at his neck and 
wrists. He wore a white wig which 
curled about his face, and Tommy 
thought he looked very handsome and 
pleasant. 

Jim did not care for books and stud¬ 
ies, so his father was teaching him to 
manage the great plantation. There 
was much to be done. The slaves 
needed to be watched; the tobacco crops 
had to be harvested at the proper time, 
and the packing and shipping arranged 
for; the wheat had to be milled and the 
flour sold. All of this the planter 
planned for, and saw that his plans were 
carried out. 

Usually before breakfast, Mr. Hunt¬ 
ington and Jim rode over the plantation. 
After breakfast they met in the little 
room which Tommy had not recognized 


94 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

that first morning. There they talked 
over with Mr. Taylor, the overseer, the 
plans for harvesting and marketing the 
crops. 

Jim did not like this part of his duty, 
but he knew it had to be done. Some¬ 
times Tommy was allowed to sit in the 
office beside the great desk while Jim 
wrote figures in a big book. When a 
page was filled, Jim would let him shake 
the sand over it to dry the ink. Tommy 
called this “keeping accounts,” and felt 
very proud to have a share in such 
important work. 

The little boy was looking forward to 
the time when he could ride around the 
plantation with his uncle and cousin on 
their morning trips of inspection. Jim 
had promised to take him some day 


Helping 


95 



soon, and Tommy could hardly wait for 
the time. 

Many mornings, Moses, the butler, 
let Tommy ring the big bell 
outside the carpenter-shop. 
This could be heard a long 
way over the fields, call¬ 
ing people in to breakfast. 
The breakfast hour at the 
Great House was not until 
between nine and 
ten o’clock, but 
the whole house¬ 
hold was up and 
at work long be¬ 
fore that. 

Mistress Hunt¬ 
ington was out in 





resists. 






-v.yA 




THE BIG BELL 


her garden on fair days walking among 















96 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

her flowers, stooping here and there to 
nip a faded blossom, digging about the 
roots of some rare plants, or fastening 
up a drooping head of bloom. Tommy 
went with her some mornings and car¬ 
ried a big flat basket in which his aunt 
put the flowers she cut to be taken to the 
house. 

In true Colonial fashion, Mistress 
Huntington protected her skin from the 
morning sun by a mask of green silk 
which she wore under her wide gypsy 
straw hat. On her hands were cotton 
mitts which covered her arms to the el¬ 
bow. Her morning dress was a sack of 
gay chintz over a quilted damask petti¬ 
coat, with a long muslin apron. If the 
dew was heavy, she wore pattens over 
her thin calamanco shoes. For often 
she went from the flower garden 


97 


Helping 

through the grass, down the hill to the 
spring-house, to see that the place was 
clean and in order. One day Tommy 
went with his aunt to see the spring- 
house. 

This little house had two parts, and 
only one of these could be called a room. 
The walls and floor of this part were 
built of stone. A big wooden table 
stood at one side. It was scrubbed very 
white, and on it were stone jars and 
shallow wooden trays called “skeels.” 
These were for the milk to stand in so 
that the cream might rise. They, too, 
had been scrubbed nearly white. Sev¬ 
eral long-handled dippers with flat 
round bowls, called “skippets,” hung 
above the table and also butter-paddles 
whittled out of red cherry wood. A big 
churn stood in one corner. A rack 


98 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

where clean linen cloths hung was in 
the other, and there was one high stool. 

“Carrie keeps her dairy-room clean, 
and it should be so if our milk and butter 
are to be good,” Mistress Huntington 
said. “Tommy, would you like to look 
into the other part and see how we 
keep things cool, even in the hottest 
weather?” 

She opened the door and told Tommy 
to look in. It was so dark that at first 
he couldn’t see anything, but he heard 
the sound of water trickling. There 
were two little windows up near the 
roof, and by and by he could see jars 
covered over with cloths, standing in the 
black, cool water, which ran in at one 
side of the house and out the other. 
There was a little wooden bridge across 
the water, but Aunt Margery wouldn’t 


Helping 99 

let him walk on it She was afraid that 
he might fall into the water, and perhaps 
upset a jar of milk. At one side stood 
crocks of milk, cream, butter, and 
cheese and on the other, racks for dishes 
of delicate foods like jellies, which must 
be kept cool in hot weather. No other 
foods were put in the dairy-house. 

“Carrie has promised to let me churn 
some day, if I am good,” Tommy said. 

His aunt smiled. He had already 
told her about the garden that Ben, the 
gardener, had promised he could have 
all by himself. Mistress Huntington 
suspected that the happy little boy had 
won some such promise from every one 
on the place. 

As they went up the hill toward the 
Great House, they passed the little 
schoolroom that had been built when 



i > 
> ) > 


) 


100 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Henry and Jim were small boys. 
Tommy stood on tiptoe and looked 
through a window now covered with 
cobwebs. He could just see into the 
bare little room with its rough benches 
and tables. Here for years they worked 
with their tutor. Several boys from 
neighboring plantations had at one time 
joined them in their studies. Margaret 
and Lucy studied for a while, too. 
They had learned to read and write and 

do simple sums, but for girls, in those 

/ 

days, it was more important to be able to 
dance and to play on the spinet or harp¬ 
sichord. Their mother herself taught 
them to embroider and sew. Now that 
the girls were growing up, they could 
help her with her many duties, too. 

Margaret was teaching several of the 
young negro women to sew coarse linen 



< ( l 


Helping ioi 

and cotton stuffs into the breeches for the 
little negroes. Lucy was not clever . 
with her needle, so she was learning to 
weave and spin that she might direct the 
weavers and spinners who made cloth 
for the servants’ clothes. 

The girls were both young and gay. 
Their mother did not keep them too 
closely tied to tasks. Often for several 
days at a time they were off for a 
dancing-party at a neighbor’s planta¬ 
tion, and quite as often entertained such 
a party at home. 

Aunt Margery was teaching Tommy 
to make his letters. He wanted very 
much to be able to write to Aunt Sally 
and Uncle Matthew, and to his mother 
and father and the twins. There was so 
much he might tell. Each day he 
worked hard over his “lessons,” as he 


102 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

called them. Jim found an old slate for 
him. He practised T’s and M’s and b’s 
and w’s in the roadway, too, making 
them very large with a pointed stick. 
He had nearly learned to write his name. 

One day Tommy discovered that saw¬ 
dust in the carpenter-shop was very 
good to write in. He brought it from 
the shop by handfuls and spread it all 
over the front porch. In it he made as 
many letters as he could remember, and 
succeeded at last in writing his name. 
He proudly went for his Aunt Margery 
to show her what he had done. He was 
very much surprised when she didn’t 
think the writing good, and scolded him 
for bringing trash on the porch. 

When Tommy and his Aunt Margery 
came back to the Great House after 
visiting the spring-house they heard the 


103 


H elping 

tinkling sound of the spinet and sweet 
girls’ voices singing. Tommy ran to 
the ball-room door and waved to his 
cousins, who stopped their singing and 
asked him to come in. Aunt Margery 
bade him not to, as his feet were wet and 
would take the polish off the floor. “Be¬ 
sides,” Aunt Margery said, “the girls 
must finish their practice.” So he kept 
on through the house and out toward the 
kitchen to see if he could beg a bite to 
eat. 

Tommy was always very hungry be¬ 
fore meal-time came around. By noon¬ 
time, almost any day, he had forgotten 
his hearty morning meal of eggs and 
crisp bacon and batter bread. He never 
tried to keep count of the number of 
beaten biscuits he ate with golden honey, 
and washed down with milk. Somehow 


104 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

it was all shaken down as he ran busily 
about helping in one place or another. 
This was the way Dinah explained it to 
him when he asked for a bite before 
dinner-time. 

Mistress Huntington was accustomed 
to having a glass of cordial and a biscuit 
when she returned to the Great House 
after her morning tour of inspection. 
Martha, the little black girl who ran her 
mistress’s errands and served her in 
many ways, w r as allowed to carry this re¬ 
freshment. It was Martha’s privilege, 
when her mistress finished, to empty the 
glass or eat what remained of the biscuit 
or cake. This was a treat, for the serv¬ 
ants’ fare was plain. The delicacies of 
the Great House table seldom reached 
the “quarters,” or even the table of the 
house-servants. 


Helping 105 

Tommy had friends in every one of 
the many little houses where the occupa¬ 
tions of the plantations were carried on. 
He liked to visit them all. Just as his 
elders had their daily tasks, going about 
watching the work in the fields, the spin¬ 
ning, weaving, mending, shoemaking, 
and gardening, so Tommy made his 
daily rounds, sometimes with his aunt 
or uncle, sometimes alone. 

The dark-skinned foreign man, who 
cobbled shoes and taught two young 
negro men to make shoes and mend 
them, was his special friend. Tommy 
couldn’t always understand what Gigo 
said to him, but it didn’t matter. They 
only laughed when they got mixed up 
with the words. Gigo had come over 
on a ship from Spain, and because he 
could make shoes, Mr. Huntington had 


106 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

bought his time for three years. At the 
end of that time Gigo would be free and 
could go about from plantation to plan¬ 
tation, making shoes and earning money 
for himself. Tommy thought he should 
like to be a shoemaker and travel about 
the colony with Gigo. 

In the carpenter-shop all the workers 
were negroes. On clear days they were 
out about the plantation, repairing the 
many wooden buildings, the slave quar¬ 
ters, or building the great sheds for the 
tobacco. 

On rainy days they worked in the 
shop, making tool-handles and rough 
furniture or dishes for the “quarters.” 
Some of the men made the great hogs¬ 
heads in which the tobacco was packed 
for shipping. Tommy brought out his 
knife, and one of the carpenters was 


Helping 107 

teaching him how to whittle. Some 
day he hoped to make a butter-paddle to 
give to Carrie because she let him help 
churn. 

There was very much to see and do, 
for work went on all the while except 
Sundays. Tommy was so busy that he 
hardly ever minded playing alone. He 
liked to “help,” as he called it, and every¬ 
body loved him and never minded a bit 
having him ask questions, or stopping 
to help him learn to be a shoemaker, or 
a carpenter, or anything else he wanted 
to be. 

As Mammy said, “It sho does do de 
ole place good ter hab a chile about, 
hoppin’ aroun’ lak a little bird, lookin’ 
foh crumbs.” 


CHAPTER IX 

A VISIT TO THE “QUARTERS” 

O FTEN when Tommy Tucker 
went to visit the hounds and 
the horses, he saw Sam and 
Swift. Swift was not much older than 
Tommy and was Mammy’s grandson. 
When his chores were done, he was 
allowed to come up to the Great House 
to play with his ‘TiT Marse,” as he called 
T ommy. 

They had a favorite spot to which they 
often went to play, half-way down the 
long, sloping, green lawn which led to 
the river. It was here that the “ha-ha” 
wall ran. This was built of brick. 


108 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 109 

The top was level with the lawn and it 
dropped about three feet to make a kind 
of terrace. The wall was meant to keep 
the sheep and cattle from getting up 
close to the house, when they were 



THE “HA-HA” WALL 


turned out to crop the grass on the lower 
lawn. It made a perfect barrier and 
could not be seen from the house. 

The two little boys made a gay spot 


no Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

of color against the green lawn as they 
sat swinging their feet over the “ha-ha” 
wall. The little black boy with shining 
eyes, and white teeth, was dressed in red 
striped osnaburg. His feet and legs 
were bare, as was his kinky black head. 
Close beside him sat his little master in 
nankeen breeches, a blue gingham coat, 
and a ruffled shirt. On his feet were 
blue stockings and silver-buckled shoes. 

Tommy was telling Swift about the 
wonderful fairs held in Norfolk. You 
would have thought he had seen them a 
dozen times. Swift’s eyes grew bigger 
and brighter as he listened to the tale of 
the slippery pole, with the hat on top, 
and the barrel-races and the greased 
pigs. 

Swift said, “Marse Talbot, if Ah kin 


A Visit to the “Quarters” ill 

git de boys at de ‘quarters’ to help me 
catch one ob de lil’ pigs down in de sty, 
why can’t we hab a Fair right hyar on 
de place?” 

“Oh, Swift,” Tommy replied, “do you 
think we could? If you get the pig, 
I’ll save a cake from my supper for a 
prize.” 

“How kin we git hits tail shaved and 
greased?” Swift asked. 

“Oh, Jim will help us, I know he 
will,” Tommy answered. 

So they planned for a Fair. 

Then Swift told Tommy about a ’pos¬ 
sum hunt the “quarter” negroes had had 
the night before. One of the men had 
caught a young ’possum before the dogs 
got it, and had brought it home to fatten 
up for the stew-pot. 


112 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

“Hab you ever eat a fat juicy ’possum, 
Marse Talbot?” the little black boy 
asked. 

Tommy said he hadn’t, and Swift 
rolled his eyes until only the whites 
showed, and grinned until his teeth 
seemed to reach almost from ear to ear. 

“It am sho’ good eatin’, Marse Tal¬ 
bot ; it sho’ am.” And indeed a ’possum 
stew with “taters” was a great treat to 
the negroes, who lived for the most part 
on the “hog and hominy” which was 
given them by the planters. Some of 
the negroes had little gardens where 
they raised vegetables, and a few were 
allowed to keep chickens. Coarse corn- 
meal from the plantation mill, and mo¬ 
lasses, which was used for sweetening, 
were also supplied. Fruit taken from 
the master’s trees and watermelons from 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 113 

his fields helped out their diet, and Mr. 
Huntington did not try to stop such 
small thefts. 

“I wish I could see the ’possum before 
he is cooked,” Tommy said. “Could 
you bring him up to the Great House 
after dinner?” 

“Lawsy no, Marse Talbot. He bites. 
Dey hab him in a cage. He jes’ hangs 
dar by his tail an’ sleeps an’ sleeps, but 
if I war to tech him, he’d wake up quick 
enough.” 

“Perhaps if I asked, I could go to see 
the ’possum. Let’s go, Swift, and see 
if we can find any one to ask,” Tommy 
said. 

The two jumped up and ran toward 
the house. Swift was not allowed in¬ 
side the Great House, so Tommy ran 
on ahead to hunt for some one who 


114 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

could give him permission to visit the 
“quarters.” 

Jim and the two girls had gone off to 
spend the day at the next plantation, 
where the dancing-master was giving 
lessons. Uncle George had gone to sit 
at the County Court, and Tommy had 
no idea where his aunt was. She was 
not in the Great House. There were 
so many places where she might be. 
Just as he was deciding whether to be¬ 
gin at the smoke-house or the dairy to 
look for her, Mammy came along up 
the path from the wash-house. 

Tommy and Swift ran to meet her. 
“Oh, Mammy,” Tommy called, “I want 
to go see the’possum!”. 

“What ’possum, chile?” Mammy 
asked. 

“Swift says they caught a ’possum last 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 115 

night and have it in a cage down at the 
‘quarters.’ Do you think Aunty will 
let me go to see it?” he begged. 

“Missus am in de sto’-house, Dinah 
says, makin’ out a lis’ of things she 
wants ter git when de ship come. Ah 
hyar dem say it am expected soon, an’ de 
lis’ mus’ be ready foh to carry back,” 
Tommy had already started on a run to¬ 
ward the store-house and Swift was run¬ 
ning after him. 

Mammy called to Swift, “Come back 
hyar, you rascal. Don’ you know 
’nough to keep out from wha’ you ain’t 
s’pose’ to be?” 

Tommy found his aunt busy. She 
was making a list of the spices, tea, 
coffee, seasonings, and flavorings that 
would be needed by the time the ship 
came in. A negro girl was helping by 


n6 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

lifting down the tin boxes and jars from 
their shelves and opening them for her 
mistress to look into. Another girl was 
working with a stone pestle and mortar 
grinding cocoa beans into fine powder. 
The air was full of the odor of chocolate 
when Tommy came in. He liked very 
much to pound the chocolate for his 
aunt, but just now the ’possum was more 
interesting than anything else. 

“Aunty,” he said, a little out of breath 
from running, “may I go see a ’possum, 
a real live ’possum that hangs by his 
tail?” 

“Where is he, honey child?” his aunt 
asked. 

The little negro girl grinned over her 
work. She knew about the ’possum, 
too. 

“Down at the ‘quarters,’ Aunty. 


A Visit to the “Quarters ” 117 

Down near Mammy’s cabin. May I 
go?” he begged. 

Mistress Huntington was very busy, 
so she said, “Yes, if Mammy goes with 
you. Stay only a little while, and don’t 
be late for dinner.” 

Tommy was anxious to go as soon 
as he heard the “yes.” He did wait, 
though, to thank his aunt and make a 
little bow with one hand behind his 
back, as he had seen his uncle do when 
he left a room where there were ladies. 

Outside he found Swift waiting. 

“I’m going! I’m going! Where is 
Mammy? She has to go with us.” 

Swift was just a little sorry about this. 
He wanted to show his “lil’ Marse” all 
the sights himself, and Mammy always 
wanted to do the talking when she was 
along. 


Il8 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

The two raced up the path to find 
Mammy. She had stopped in the 
kitchen to see Dinah. 

“Oh, Mammy, come on. Aunty says 
to go with me to the ‘quarters.’ ” 

“Lawsy, chile. Has Mammy got to 
go all dat piece in dis hot sun, when she 
hab de misery in her back, jes so you kin 
see a ’possum?” 

“Mammy, I want to see where you 
live, too,” Tommy said, with a winning 
smile. 

“Go long, chile, I lives hyar. I ain’t 
no ‘quarters’ nigger.” 

But really Mammy spent a good part 
of her time at the little cabin where her 
family lived. She liked to keep an eye 
on them and sit in the doorway and di¬ 
rect the coming and going of her chil¬ 
dren and grandchildren. 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 119 

Tommy pulled her out of the kitchen 
and the fat old woman started off with 
the two boys running ahead of her, 
down the road toward the “quarters.” 

They didn’t have to go far before they 
could see the little cabins. They were 
in rows on both sides of the road. Most 
of them were built of split logs, chinked 
with mud and had low sloping roofs. 
A few had little gardens in front, and 
swarms of pickaninnies played about. 
Their only clothes were coarse white 
shifts, not very clean. Their shiny 
black arms and legs were bare. They 
romped about in the sun like so many 
puppies or kittens. Outside of several 
cabins, old gray-headed negroes, no 
longer able to work, sat dozing in the 
sun. 

One old man was making brooms of 


120 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

sedge-grass which grew in the “old 
fields.” He was proud of these brooms 
which were used as hearth-brooms for 
the many fireplaces of the Great House. 
Swift said he knew how to make brooms, 
too, and promised to show Tommy how. 

Mammy stopped at one of the cabins 
to ask after a sick child and Tommy and 
Swift ran ahead to see the ’possum. 
They found the little animal hanging to 
the limb of a small tree, which had been 
stuck in the shady corner of a rail fence 
and a rough cage built around it. A 
ring of black children stood watching 
and waiting for the ’possum to do some¬ 
thing beside hang upside down by its 
smooth tail. They dared not poke it, as 
one of the men had been bitten when the 
’possum was put in the cage. 

They all moved back when Tommy 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 121 

and Swift came up. Swift was feeling 
very important and didn’t notice any of 
his friends, who were there. 

“Dar he is, Marse Talbot,” Swift said. 



THE ’POSSUM 


“Does he always stay like that?” 
Tommy asked. 

“Ah ain’t nebber seen him no other 
way,” Swift answered. 




122 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

“What does he eat?” Tommy wanted 
to know. 

“Ah don’ know. He mus’ eat some- 
pin, kase dey is goin’ to fatten him up 
an’ den eat him.” 

Tommy looked and looked at the 
quiet little animal with his round furry 
body and pointed nose, hanging there as 
though he would never do anything 
else. The “quarters” children found 
the little boy from the Great House 
more interesting than the ’possum just 
then, and stood and looked at Tommy in 
silence. 

Mammy came up, and said, “If you 
wants to see whar I live, come right up 
dis way, Marse Talbot.” The ’possum 
didn’t show any signs of stirring, so Tal¬ 
bot went along with Mammy. 

Mammy’s cabin had a little fence 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 123 

around it and some vines growing up by 
the door. She went in first and then 
asked Tommy to come in. 

Coming in out of the sunshine the 
cabin’s one room seemed dark, and in¬ 
deed the few windows were too small to 
let in much light. Smoke from the fire¬ 
place had made the rafters nearly black. 
There was very little furniture, only a 
rough table, a bench or two, and a kind 
of bed in one corner. Under one win¬ 
dow was a chest of drawers. This was 
Mammy’s pride. On top of the chest 
stood two brass candlesticks and a 
wooden bowl. A few pewter cups and 
wooden plates were on a shelf above. 
The only china was a broken-topped 
pitcher and a cracked dish which had 
been discarded at the Great House. 
Over the fire hung an iron pot in which 


124 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

something was cooking. A three- 
legged black kettle stood near the coals. 
A number of pots and pans hung about 
the fireplace. 

“Where do all the people sleep, 
Mammy?” Tommy asked, as he looked 
around. 

“The chilluns roll up in dey kivers, 

’mos’ anywhere, and der mammy and 

/ 

daddy sleeps dah in de corner,” she 
answered, pointing to the one bed of 
rough hewn wood. Mammy slept over 
the wash-house, so there didn’t have to 
be a place for her. 

The “quarters” children played out of 
doors all day on pleasant days, and the 
men and women worked at the Great 
House or about the stables or gardens. 
At night they came home tired. After 
their evening meal, they sat about the 


A Visit to the “Quarters” 125 

doorsteps until dark, singing and talk¬ 
ing. The young people played games 
and danced to fiddle tunes. 

The field negroes lived in other quar¬ 
ters, just like these, but farther off, 
nearer the tobacco fields where they 
worked. 

“Tain’t pretty like de Great House, is 
it Marse Talbot? But it am good 
enough foh us,” the old woman said. 
“Marse Huntington am good to his 
black people. If we is faithful an’ 
works, he treats us well. He don’t ’low 
no man fer to ’buse his people, an’ I only 
knows of one nigger dat he had to sell, 
an’ he was a no-’count un.” 


CHAPTER X 


A TRIP TO THE FIELDS 


O NE morning early, Tommy 
Tucker was standing on the 
steps of the Great House wait¬ 
ing for his uncle and Jim. This was the 
day they were to take him to the fields. 
It was a beautiful clear morning with a 
little autumn coolness in the air. 

The master of the house was riding 
out to see his tobacco fields, for it was 
nearly time for the harvesting of the 
crop. So much depended on the 
tobacco. Tommy had learned that it 
was tobacco that bought the gay clothes 

and fine furnishings which came over 

126 


127 


A Trip to the Fields 

on the ship from London. Tobacco 
paid for the beautiful new horse that 
Mr. Huntington had ridden home from 
the County Court. A good crop meant 
more silver for the sideboard in the 
dining-room and more fine books for 
his uncle’s library. He had heard his 
uncle say, just the other day, that if the 
tobacco crop was good, he would have 
a famous portrait-painter come to paint 
pictures of the whole family. And per¬ 
haps when winter came, they might all 
go to Williamsburg for the gay assem¬ 
blies and the plays which were held 
there every year. So many of the things 
which made life on the plantation pleas¬ 
ant depended upon the tobacco crop. 
Tommy was very anxious to see this 
wonderful plant. 

It seemed to him a long time before 


128 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Swift brought two beautiful horses up 
to the steps. Even then his uncle and 
Jim didn’t come. But he had Swift to 
talk to now and the horses to pet. 
Tommy hoped he was going to ride be¬ 
hind Jim on the brown mare. 

Swift was having a hard time holding 
the spirited horses. To steady them, he 
had to walk them around the big grassy 
circle in front of the house. Tommy 
thought it safer to stay right on the steps, 
to make sure he wouldn’t miss his uncle, 
so he sat on the top one to wait and told 
Swift about his pet goose back in Nor¬ 
folk whenever he came near the porch. 

By and by Jim and his father came 
out. They were both dressed for riding. 
The silver buttons on their blue duffel 
coats shone in the sun, and their neat, 


129 


A Trip to the Fields 

smooth wigs were tied in queues with 
black ribbon bows. Their ruffled shirts 
were starched and white, and they 
looked as trim and fresh as the morning. 

“What a glorious day!” the planter 
said, as he looked out over the fields to 
the woods beyond. 

“Good morning, Tommy,” said Jim, 
who noticed the little fellow on the steps. 

“You are out early, aren’t you?” his 
Uncle George added. 

“Don’t you remember, sir, this is the 
day you promised to take me to the 
fields?” Tommy reminded him. 

“Sure enough, it is,” Jim answered. 
“He didn’t want to get left behind, so he 
came down in good time.” 

“All right, lad. We’ll show you the 
tobacco fields. Mr. Taylor tells me the 


130 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

crop is ripening and I want to look it 
over before I give orders to cut it,” Mr. 
Huntington said. 

Just then Joe, a serving-man, in blue 
jacket and white breeches, spotless white 
stockings, and shoes with large buckles, 
came out from the house with a tray, on 
which were two tall glasses filled with a 
cold drink. The Master always had his 
mint julep before he rode to the fields. 

“Ah, that’s the drink,” the planter 
said, as Joe served his master and Jim 
and stood aside to wait for the glasses to 
be emptied. 

“But come along now. We must 
be off.” 

The servant took the emptied glasses, 
bowed to his master, and stood watching 
the two men and the little boy mount the 
horses and start. Tommy was helped 


A Trip to the Fields 131 

up behind Jim just as he had hoped, and 
away they rode toward the fields. 

They passed by the “quarters” where 
the negroes stopped what they were 
doing and bowed to their master as he 
passed. Mr. Huntington returned the 
salute in a kindly way and Tommy 
waved to the pickaninnies who climbed 
up on the fence to watch them pass. 

Soon they were out of sight of the 
Great House and trotting along a rough 
dirt road. They passed a big cornfield 
where the shocks were stacked together 
waiting for the husking. 

Every year the negroes had a great 
festival over the corn-husking. They 
worked and sang and made merry in the 
barn as they stored away the golden ears, 
which were to feed the horses and cattle 
through the winter months. 


132 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Then the riders passed great fields 
where the sedge-grass grew high. Jim 
said these were the “old fields” where to¬ 
bacco was planted until the land became 
too poor to raise any more crops. 

On the edge of this clearing there was 
a scattered group of small log cabins. 
Here the field negroes lived. Jim 
pointed out the overseer’s house on a 
hill, in a clump of trees. They called 
this “Dog Creek Farm,” because the 
rolling-road, from the tobacco sheds 
down to Dog Creek, ran past the over¬ 
seer’s house. Tobacco was the only 
crop raised on Dog Creek Farm. 

Tommy soon had his first glimpse of 
growing tobacco. The plants were set 
out in rows, about four feet apart. 
These plants grew quite tall and some¬ 
times had as many as ten or twelve big, 


133 


A Trip to the Fields 

coarse, green leaves growing straight 
out from the stalks. At the top of each 
stalk grew a large, bell-shaped, pinkish 
flower, but these were nipped off as soon 



THE TOBACCO FIELDS 


as they appeared. This is called “top¬ 
ping” the tobacco. It makes the leaves 
grow better. When tobacco begins to 
ripen and is ready to cut, the leaves turn 
a lighter green and become mottled, 
with light-colored spots. 

At the first field, the planter got down 
from his horse and walked in among the 
plants. Tommy saw him take a leaf in 


134 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

his hand and fold it between his fingers. 
Jim said that the tobacco was ripe if the 
leaf snapped when he did this. 

They rode for quite a while along the 
road between the tobacco fields. Then 
they came to several long, airy sheds 
where the tobacco was brought to be 
dried. 

Here some negroes were working, 
getting everything ready for the crop 
which was soon to be brought in. Jim 
got down from his horse to inspect the 
inside of the sheds and took Tommy 
with him. The sheds were quite empty, 
save for great hogsheads and piles of 
long sticks on the floor. These were 
the sticks on which the tobacco stalks 
were hung to dry. 

They were laid across the rafters and 
allowed to hang there until the time 


A Trip to the Fields 135 

came to take the withered tobacco down 
to be stemmed. Then the leaves were 
tied up in bundles and packed in great 
hogsheads, where the tobacco was 
prized or pressed down. These huge 
hogsheads held as much as eleven hun¬ 
dred pounds and were hauled by horses 
or slaves down the rolling-roads to the 
“rolling-houses” or warehouses. There 
the hogsheads were stored until a ship 
came to carry the tobacco to the London 
merchant, or until it was sold and sent 
to buyers in the other colonies. 

While Jim was speaking to the ne¬ 
groes about things he wanted done, 
Tommy ran about looking at everything. 
He climbed into one of the huge hogs¬ 
heads w’hich was standing near a pile of 
lumber. It was so deep that he couldn’t 
see over the top. Tommy was a little 


136 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

frightened and yelled loudly for Jim to 
come and get him out. Then he found 
a stick, which was just the right length 



IN THE HOGSHEAD 

for a sword. He asked one of the ne¬ 
groes to give him some rope to tie it 
around his waist. Tommy was very 
cross when Jim made him put the stick 







































































































































137 


A Trip to the Fields 

down before they remounted the horse. 

Mr. Huntington had ridden ahead to 
catch up with the overseer and give his 
orders about cutting the tobacco in the 
fields they had just passed. Jim and 
Tommy were to follow him, so they rode 
on passed other fields of tobacco. Jim 
said these were not ripe yet. The plants 
here had not been set out as soon as those 
in the first field. A dry spell had de¬ 
layed the transplanting of the tobacco. 

“They plant tobacco seeds,” Jim told 
Tommy, “in special beds covered with 
tobacco cloth. When the seedlings are 
six to ten weeks old, they are trans¬ 
planted into the fields. Each little 
plant is set out by hand. The ground 
must be wet, so we wait until after a 
shower to transplant. The only way 
water can be brought to the fields is in 


138 Tommy Tucker on a /Plantation 

barrels from the creek, so we always wait 
for wet weather if we can.” 

Tommy said he thought tobacco was 
a lot of trouble to raise. Jim said, “It 
does take skill and trouble in the right 
management of it to make the crop a 
success. And sometimes after we have 
done all we can, the cutworms spoil the 
leaves or the dampness makes them 
mould and decay in the sheds. If the 
crop is small, we are poor. Mother and 
the girls can’t have new clothes and 
jewels, and Father can’t buy new land.” 

“But there is always plenty to eat,” he 
went on to say. “The river is full of 
fish and the woods are full of game.” 

“Do you ever go ’possum-hunting?” 
Talbot asked. 

“That’s not a gentleman’s sport,” Jim 
replied. “The negroes do that. We 


139 


A Trip to the Fields 

hunt deer for food, and for sport, gentle¬ 
men have fox-hunting and horse¬ 
racing.” 

“But you like cock-fights, and the ne¬ 
groes like them, too. I heard black 
Sam say the ‘quarter’ negroes were go¬ 
ing to a cock-fight at Henry’s Ferry, 
just last week. And I heard Uncle 
George say, too, that he won a pound 
from Mr. Smith on a cock-fight when he 
went up to the County Court.” 

“Yes,” Jim admitted. “Every man, 
black or white, likes a good cock-fight.” 

“I shouldn’t,” Tommy said, though 
he wasn’t quite sure what a cock-fight 
was like. 

Jim laughed at him and said, “Just 
wait till you grow up.” 

They were riding now through a piece 
of wooded land and the road was as nar- 


140 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 
row as a path. Suddenly there was a 

V 

great flapping of wings, and a wild tur¬ 
key flew off into the brush, just in front 
of them. The horse shied and Tommy 
had to hold tightly. 

* 

“I wish I had my gun with me,” Jim 
said. “We would have had good eating 
for supper. Last year I brought in the 
first wild turkey of the season,” he told 
Tommy. “And I shot him in this very 
same patch of woods.” 

As they talked, they were circling 
around to the Great House. They 
passed two big orchards where the ap¬ 
ples grew, from which the cider was 
made. Jim pointed out the little house 
where the cider-press stood. Tommy 
wanted to stop and see how it worked, 
but Jim said they wouldn’t be back in 
time for breakfast if they didn’t keep go- 


A Trip to the Fields 141 

ing. There were peach, plum, and 
cherry orchards, too. 

When they came to the old stone mill, 
with its big water-wheel turning slowly, 
they saw Mr. Huntington’s horse. All 
the corn-meal and flour for use on the 
plantation was ground here. Some¬ 
times there was more than enough flour 
for the Great House. This was shipped 
away in exchange for sugar from the 
West Indies. 

Tommy wanted to go into the mill to 
see how the flour was ground. Jim 
said, “No, you’ll only get yourself 
covered with dust, and besides the miller 
is busy with Father and hasn’t any time 
to be bothered with boys.” 

Tommy thought Jim very cross this 
morning but he said nothing about it. 
They waited until Mr. Huntington 


142 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

came out. Tommy got down and 
watched the great wheel going slowly 
round and round, turning the stones, 
which ground the grain into flour. 

When Mr. Huntington came out, 
they rode together back to the Great 
House. Just before they came in sight 
of the house, they passed some swampy 
land where the ground was covered with 
vines having shiny dark green leaves. 
Jim said this was myrtle. The vines 
bore little berries. These were boiled, 
and candles made from the wax. Every 
year the “quarters” children picked the 
myrtle berries. Then there was a 
candle-making bee to supply the Great 
House with the pretty green candles, 
which gave forth a fragrant odor as they 
burned. 

“Did they name the plantation Myrtle 


A Trip to the Fields 143 

Hill because there are so many berries 
here?” Tommy asked. 

“Yes,” Jim said, “that is just the 
reason.” 

When they reached home they found 
the post had come and left letters. 
There was one for Tommy from his 
Aunt Sally. This was the very first let¬ 
ter he had ever received. He was so ex¬ 
cited that he could hardly wait for some 
one to read it to him. 

But it was breakfast-time, so Tommy 
had to be patient. The meal seemed 
long and every one ate so slowly. 
Tommy finished in a hurry and then had 
to sit and wait for the others. The time 
seemed very long indeed. 

When every one had finished Aunt 
Margery pushed back her chair and 
took Tommy’s letter from the bag which 


144 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

hung at her waist. Lucy and Margaret 
and even Jim and Uncle George stopped 
talking to listen. Aunt Margery let 
Tommy break the big red seal on the 
back of his letter. Then she read it to 
him as he leaned over the arm of her 
chair. 

“To MY NEPHEW 

Talbot Matthew Tucker, 

Myrtle Hill Plantation, 
in care of George Huntington, Esq. 
“Dear Talbot: 

“It seems a long time since you left 
Norfolk. We all miss you, especially 
Solomon, the goose. We have kept her 
in the garden all summer. Several 
times she has been very naughty. She 
gets into the flower-beds and once she 
snapped off nearly all the blossoms from 
my feverfew. 

“I have missed your help in the gar- 


A Trip to the Fields 145 

den. The weeds grew fast and Uncle 
Solomon and I have worked hard to 
keep them out of the beds. 

“The Fair was held last week and Un¬ 
cle Matthew wished you were here to 
go with him. I went with him just 
once. The crowd was rough and very 
noisy but you would have loved it all. 
I saw four young men tied up in sacks 
trying to run a race. They soon fell 
down and finished the race rolling. 

“Later, a man in a pied costume came 
dancing on to the square. He brought 
several great bowls of hot mush and of¬ 
fered a prize to the fellow who would 
‘gobble it up’ faster than the rest. I fear 
there were some badly burned tongues 
after that. 

“To all of the household at Myrtle 
Hill, your Uncle Matthew and I send 
our regards. Thank them for the let¬ 
ter which reached us two weeks ago, 
come Tuesday. This I am sending by 
the next post and it should reach you in 
due season. 

“We have had no word from your 


146 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Mother and Father. Uncle Matthew 
sent letters by the last ship. We are 
hoping for a reply when it returns. 

“Be an obedient and helpful boy. 
Try to learn your letters so we may hear 
from you. 

“Your affectionate 
Aunt and Uncle.” 


CHAPTER XI 


GETTING READY FOR VISITORS 


N OT long after his trip to 
the fields, Tommy found his 
Cousin Lucy sitting by the 
little window in the upstairs hall. She 
was sewing on yellow damask which fell 
in great folds about her feet. 

“Some cousins are coming to visit us, 
Tommy,” she said, “and there will be 
two boys and a little girl for you to play 
with.” 

“What are their names, Cousin 
Lucy?” Tommy asked. 

“One is Richard, the other John, and 
the little girl is Sally. They are your 
second-cousins.” 

147 


1 


148 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

“How old are Richard and John, 
Cousin Lucy?” asked Tommy, who was 
most interested in the boys. 

“Richard and John are a little older 
than you, and Sally is a little younger. 
Now run along, Tommy. I must get 
these curtains ready for the guest-bed. 
See if you can find Jane and tell her to 
come here. I want her to get the best 
blankets out of the chest.” 

So Tommy went to look for the little 
black girl who waited on his Cousin 
Lucy. He had to go to the kitchen be¬ 
fore he found her. 

There things were all astir. Llis aunt 
was standing by a large table in one 
corner of the kitchen, making little tarts. 
She wore a big white apron over her 
bright-colored sack and quilted pet¬ 
ticoat, and a cap on her head. The 


Getting Ready for Visitors 149 

ruffles of her sleeves were turned back 
to be out of the way. When Tommy 
came into the kitchen she was crimping 
the edges of thin pastry tarts with a little 
wheel. Dinah was a very good cook, 
but Mistress Huntington liked to make 
the special dainties for her family and 
guests. 

Tommy could smell freshly baked 
cookies and hoped they had caraway 
seeds in them, for he liked them that 
way. Dinah often let him go into the 
pantry to get cookies out of a big stone 
jar. If he had an apple, too, it was a 
great treat. Sometimes Aunt Margery 
made cookies for him in the shape of let¬ 
ters, and he had to say them before he 
might eat any. 

To-day Dinah was busy baking and 
directing the young negro girls who 


150 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

worked about the kitchen. She hardly 
noticed Tommy who stood smelling the 
cookies. 

There was a great scrubbing and rub¬ 
bing of the copper and brass kettles and 
saucepans and a cleaning of pewter la¬ 
dles, pitchers and plates. Everything 
must be spick and span in the great 
kitchen for the company. There would 
be no time for cleaning when the guests 
arrived. There would be many extra 
people to feed at the Great House, be¬ 
sides the servants they would bring with 
them. 

Tommy wandered to the corner by the 
big fireplace where he could see all that 
was going on. He hoped some one 
would ask him to have a cookie after a 
while. He liked the kitchen as well as 
any of the places he visited and made 


Getting Ready for Visitors 151 

friends, and he especially liked it on 
rainy days. 

There was always a fire in the great 
fireplace with its many hooks and chains 
hanging at different lengths over the 
coals. One or two iron kettles usually 
hung far back in the fireplace, with hot 
water in them. The skillets and sauce¬ 
pans had legs or stood on little trivets, 
made to bring them as near the coals as 
one wished. A toast-rack hung from 
the mantel, and beside it a pair of tongs 
and a long-handled shovel called a 
“peel.” Dinah used these to get dishes 
in and out of the great brick oven. 
Over to one side was a box of metal. 
That was the “tin kitchen.” It was a 
kind of oven, which could be moved 
close to the fire. This was used of¬ 
ten, because the great brick oven was 


152 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

only heated once a week, on baking- 
day. 

Tommy sat in the corner on a little 



TOMMY SAT ON A LITTLE STOOL 

stool, with his chin in his hands, watch¬ 
ing all the hustle and bustle in the 
kitchen and listening to the little song 
the copper teakettle was singing. No¬ 
body seemed to notice him. His aunt 




























































Getting Ready for Visitors 153 

must have known he was there, however, 
for soon she called him. 

“Tommy, run to the store-room with 
Carrie, and bring me some spice. You 
may have a cookie when you come back. 
Carrie is going to chop some citron for 
me, and I need the spice at once.” 

Tommy jumped up, and ran after the 
young negro woman who had started 
toward the storehouse. He got the 
spice, and was so anxious to do the 
errand quickly and get the cookie that 
he ran into Mammy coming out of the 
wash-house, with her arms full of clean 
bedding for the Great House. 

“Lawsy, chile! What is you tryin’ to 
do in sech a hurry? Don’ yo’ run 
ol’ Mammy down,” Mammy said. 

“I’m sorry, Mammy, but Aunty sent 
me to the storehouse for spice and I’m 


154 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

to have a cookie if I get back quickly,” 
Tommy said as he hurried on. 

Everywhere the preparation for com¬ 
pany went on. The rooms upstairs in 
the schoolhouse were set in order and an 
extra bed was put in Tommy’s room. 
Richard and John were to sleep there, 
and Sally was to have a trundle-bed in 
the room with her mother. Jim and the 
young men who were to come to dance, 
would use the rooms in the schoolhouse. 
No one minded being a little crowded, 
for it was such fun to have company. 

Tommy was very much excited about 
having guests near his own age. He 
was planning to show them about the 
place and play all his favorite games 
with them. Perhaps he could even take 
them to the “quarters” to see the ’possum. 


CHAPTER XII 


THE VISITORS ARRIVE 


W HEN the day came for the 

guests to arrive, Tommy 
begged leave to go to the 
end of the driveway to wait for them. 
Swift was to stand out on the main road 
and tell the travellers where to turn in to 
Myrtle Hill. 

The first arrivals came in a plum- 
colored chariot with yellow wheels, 
drawn by six black horses. The trim¬ 
ming of the harness was nickel and the 
buttons on the driver’s livery matched 
it. Swift directed them to the Great 
House in his most dignified manner. 


155 


156 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

He was dressed in his green livery, and 
felt very important. Soon after another 
coach full of people came and Tommy 
went back to the Great House to see who 
they were. 

Up at the Great House, all was excite¬ 
ment. Every one was greeting every 
one else. Lucy and Margaret had cap¬ 
tured two young ladies, and chatted 
gaily with them, as they helped to take 
off their gay cloaks and big sunbonnets 
called calashes. These they handed to 
the negro girls who stood by to help. 
Servants carried the boxes, full of the 
visitors’ dresses and finery, from the 
coaches into the house. 

Mr. Huntington and his wife stood in 
the wide hall to greet their guests. Be¬ 
fore the first arrivals had been shown to 
their rooms, two young men on horse- 


The Visitors Arrive 157 

back rode up to the door. They greeted 

their host and hostess with low bows and 

formal phrases, but soon made their way 

over to the young people who were 

chattering and laughing together. 

Tommy recognized one of the young 

men as the friend who had taken him 

into the White Crow Ordinary, the day 

he came to Mvrtle Hill. 

* 

Young Johns saw the little boy stand¬ 
ing, watching from the stairway. He 
went over to him and put out his hand. 

“Good day, Master Talbot. It is a 
pleasure to see you again, sir,” he said. 

Tommy was delighted to be remem¬ 
bered and bowed low over Mr. Johns’ 
hand as he had seen his uncle do. 

“Oh, sir! I thought you wouldn’t re¬ 
member me,” Tommy said. 

“Why, of course I do. Come tell me 


158 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

about the last of your journey and how 
you like the plantation,” he said, leading 
Tommy to a comfortable-looking sofa 
in the back of the hall. 

Tommy was very ready to talk and 
tell him about everything, the birch 
broom he was going to learn to make, 
the ’possum at the “quarters,” his trip to 
the fields, and a dozen other things he 
had seen and done. 

Before Tommy had told very much of 
his story, however, a pretty young lady 
in a brown tabby gown over a yellow 
petticoat, with her own golden hair piled 
high in a most elaborate fashion, came 
over to the sofa. 

“Come, Mr. Johns, Mistress Mar¬ 
garet is waiting to show us the steps of a 
new dance.” And laughingly she led 
the young man toward the ball-room, 


The Visitors Arrive 159 

leaving Tommy alone on the sofa. He 
wasn’t quite sure he liked the pretty lady, 
who took his friend away from him. 

All during the morning other visitors 
arrived. The ladies came in bright- 
colored chariots, the men on horseback. 

The three children came with their 
mammy in a big blue coach drawn by 
four brown horses. Tommy was in the 
vegetable garden when they arrived. 
He saw them get out and go up the steps 
and tried to decide which was Richard 
and which was John. The boys wore 
suits with queer long trousers, split up 
each side, and short jackets with big 
buttons on the front. Their hair was 
cut in bangs and hung to their shoul¬ 
ders. Tommy thought they looked very 
strange, for his suit was made just like 
his uncle’s, with knee-breeches and a 


160 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

long-skirted coat which came to his 
knees. He didn't know that his cousins 



CLOTHES FROM LONDON 


wore the very latest clothes from 
London. 












The Visitors Arrive 


161 


Sally was a gay little girl with curly 
black hair, and very red cheeks. Her 
dress was long, down to her feet, and her 



SALLY 

little red cape had a hood to it. She 
skipped along in front of her mammy 
and seemed very happy. Tommy 





























162 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

thought perhaps he might like her as 
well as he would like the boys. She re¬ 
minded him a little of the twins, too, and 
he was glad she had come. 

When he went into the house to meet 
his cousins, he found young ladies and 
gentlemen in the ball-room chatting and 
laughing and trying the steps of a frol¬ 
icking new reel. A young negro man 
played the fiddle for them, and they 
danced jigs and reels and country 
dances until the dinner-gong stopped 
them. 

Mr. Huntington had walked off with 
two of the older men toward the stables. 
They wanted to talk about the horses 
and the hounds, and plan for the fox¬ 
hunting and the sports for the cold days, 
which were coming. 

The mistress of the house was talking 


The Visitors Arrive 163 

with two guests in the sunny upper hall. 
They were telling her bits of neighbor¬ 
hood gossip and about the latest fashions 
in gowns and hairdressing. One of them 
had brought with her three “fashion 
babies,” or dolls, from a great London 
dressmaker. The dolls were costumed 
completely, from shoes to wigs, in the 
latest styles. They passed, from one 

plantation to another, until 
all the ladies of the colony 
knew how to dress their hair 
or shape their hoops just as 
^ the ladies in Lon¬ 

don did. When 
the “babies” were 
old, they were 
“fashion doll” given to the little 
girls to play with and made very nice 
dolls indeed. 








164 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

The three children were downstairs 
looking about, when Tommy met them. 
They all knew his name, for Aunt Mar¬ 
gery had told them. He soon learned 
that Richard was taller than John, and 
in spite of their queer clothes, he thought 
them very friendly and liked them very 
much. Both boys loved little Sally 
and were used to playing with her, 
so Tommy decided she could go every¬ 
where with them. When they had be¬ 
come acquainted Tommy said: 

“Wouldn’t you like to go out and see 
everything?” 

“May we go, Mammy?” they asked 
of the smiling negro woman who had 
come to watch out for them. 

“Sholy you kin, if you don’ git too far 
away ter hyar de dinin’-bell.” 

“Oh, Mammy,” Tommy said, “you 


The Visitors Arrive 165 

can hear our bell all over the place, it 
rings so long and so loud.” 

“All right, chilluns. Run along, an’ 
don’ you git in trouble de bery fus min¬ 
ute you gits hyar,” she warned them. 

So off the four children went. 
Tommy was proud to be the host, and his 
guests were eager to see everything. 


CHAPTER XIII 


ENTERTAINING AT MYRTLE HILL 


HE big dinner-gong sounded 
before the children made the 
rounds of the gardens and out¬ 
buildings. They scampered back over 
the lawn and stopped at the sun-dial. 
By standing on the stone base, Tommy 
could see the figures on the face of the 
dial. He was proud to be able to tell 
the time by the slim shadow falling 
across the numbers. 

“Why, it is only two o’clock,” Tommy 
said. “The dinner-gong should not 
sound until three.” 

Tommy’s mammy came to hurry 
them along. “Come along, chilluns, 

166 



Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 167 

dinner am early to-day. Dere is many 
to serb an’ de ladies mus’ hab time to res’ 
an’ make deysef’s han’some.” 

She took the children into the library 


1 



THE SUN-DIAL 


where a table had been set for them, that 
they might be served quickly and not 
have to sit through the long meal with 
their elders. 







168 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Mr. and Mistress Huntington were 
waiting in the wide hall for their guests 
to assemble. The young people were 
in high spirits after dancing, and quite 
ready for their dinner. When every 
one was there, each gentlemen bowed to 
a lady and offered her his arm. Then 
the gay company went into the dining¬ 
room. 

The door between the library and the 
dining-room was left open, and the chil¬ 
dren could see the serving-men go back 
and forth offering savory dishes. For 
a while they watched and ate their meal 
in silence, but soon the four were chat¬ 
tering about their own affairs. 

Tommy told about the time he found 
his Cousin Jim’s wig and was caught 
trying it on. The little guests told about 
their own home and the events of the 


Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 169 

morning trip. Sally started a story about 
Indians in the deep woods they had come 
through. She knew she had seen a 
feathered head-dress behind a tree, and 
once when she looked back, a great 
brown savage had crouched down be¬ 
hind a bush. The boys laughed at her 
and said no Indians lived in the forests 
now. They told her that long ago, a 
hundred years ago, there had been In¬ 
dians, but not this morning. But Sally 
was sure she had seen Indians that very 
day. Her mammy told her, and so had 
her father, that Indians lived in the 
woods, and she knew they did, and noth¬ 
ing the boys could say made her change 
her mind. 

Long before the grown folk finished 
their heavy meal, Mammy took the four 
children upstairs to rest. They had 


170 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

been promised that they might stay up a 
little while that evening to see the danc¬ 
ing if they would take a nap after din¬ 
ner. After the long ride and exciting 
morning, it was not many minutes be¬ 
fore they were all asleep. 

By six o’clock, the young people from 
the nearer plantations began to arrive. 
Candles twinkled from every corner of 
the Great House, up-stairs and down. 
A fire crackled on the hearth in the 
library, for the nights were getting cool. 

Soon the house was full of the voices 
of the young people and blooming with 
gay colors of rustling silk gowns and 
bright plush and satin suits. The pol¬ 
ished floors reflected the luster of rich 
brocades and jeweled buckles at the 
knees and on silken slippers. The 
white-paneled rooms, with their high 


Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 171 

ceilings and walls hung with family 
portraits, made a perfect setting for the 
white-wigged and beruffled beaux, with 
their snuff-boxes, and the beautifully 
gowned ladies with their elaborate head¬ 
dresses. Eyes sparkled in the candle¬ 
light and teased behind fans, and soft 
voices filled the house with merriment. 

The children looked on from the stair¬ 
way with the same feeling of importance 
that children always have when they are 
allowed to stay up for a grown-up party. 
They, too, were dressed in their best 
clothes. 

The music began as soon as the 
guests arrived, and the ball opened with 
the minuet. Old and young moved 
through its stately steps with grace and 
dignity. In the hall, the children fol¬ 
lowed some of the figures, for even 


172 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Sally was having dancing-lessons, and 
the boys, too, learned to dance before 
they went to school. In those happy 
days in Virginia, dancing was every 
gentleman’s accomplishment. 



THE MINUET 


Reels and jigs followed the minuet, 
and then came square dances with the 
negro fiddlers calling the figures. Be¬ 
tween dances, couples wandered into the 
hall, on the porch, or into the garden. 






Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 173 

About nine o’clock the dining-room 
was opened and supper was announced. 
For those who wished refreshment, 
punch was served from a great silver 
bowl which was never allowed to be¬ 
come empty. Later, card-tables were 
set up in the library for any who tired of 
dancing. 

The children grew tired of watching 
the dancers and nodded before the 
dining-room was opened, but they 
wouldn’t give in and go to bed until they 
had seen the supper-table set with its 
fine silver and glass and lit by a great 
branched candlestick that Sally said 
looked like a Christmas-tree. They 
were allowed to taste of the dainties 
spread on the table, but they were all 
too sleepy to care much for food. 

When their mammies came to take 


174 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

them upstairs, they were quite ready to 
go. It had been a long and exciting 
day. After Sally was tucked in her 
trundle-bed, Mammy sat dozing outside 
of her door, waiting for the guests to go. 
Even after Sally’s mother came up to 
bed, the fiddlers played on, and when the 
dance was over and the young ladies had 
retired in the first gray of dawn, cards 
and the punch-bowl held the attention of 
some of those Virginia gallants. 

The household woke late the day after 
the ball and found a gray, wet world out¬ 
side. The wind blew the trees about 
and splashed the rain against the 
window-panes. By the time the children 
got downstairs, all signs of the party 
had disappeared. The black boys had 
made fires on every hearth, and inside it 


Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 175 

was as cheery and as dry as could be. 
Nobody seemed to mind the storm. 

One by one, the guests gathered for 
late breakfast. The young men came 
up from their rooms in the schoolhouse 
in great coats and sherry-vallies. These 
were a kind of legging they wore in wet 
weather to protect them from the mud. 
They buttoned up on the outside of the 
trousers, and kept the silk-clad legs of 
the young beaux dry and spotless. 

The children were allowed to break¬ 
fast with their elders. The company 
was as gay as the night before, and 
neither the storm nor the lateness of the 
ball seemed to affect the spirits of the 
young people, who were planning to 
dance all that day. 

Gowns and suits had changed from 


176 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

brilliant brocades and velvets to more 
simple materials, such as shalloon and 
silk serge. Lucy and Margaret Hunt¬ 
ington wore simple print ginghams with 
long muslin aprons and kerchiefs, and 
quaint caps called coifs. The elaborate 
hairdressing and ornaments of jewels 
and ribbon were kept for parties, then 
as now. 

They breakfasted slowly on fish and 
chicken, eggs, bacon, corn cakes, batter 
bread, muffins, tea and coffee, and fruit. 
It was well past noon when they left the 
dining-room. The young people and 
the children went into the ball-room. 
Uncle Zed was sent for, and they danced 
away the remainder of the day. 

Mistress Huntington took her older 
guests to her own room, where before 
the cheery fire, the good ladies gossiped 


Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 177 

and exchanged ideas about cookery and 
their embroideries and handiwork. 

Downstairs in the library, the men 
discussed the crops and the races, the 
last sitting of the County Court, the 
price of tobacco and the risks of selling 
and shipping. 

When the children tired of the ball¬ 
room, they played blind-man’s buff, fox- 
in-the-warren, prisoners’ base, and cat, 
in the great hall upstairs and down. 
No one minded their pattering feet and 
gay laughter. Mammy brought them 
caraway cookies, and gathered them 
about her towards dinner-time when 
they were tired and a bit cross, to listen 
to stories. 

It was still raining and storming after 
dinner and quite impossible for any of 
the guests to leave. The roads, which 


178 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

were none too good in fair weather be¬ 
came almost impassable after a rain. 
Unbridged “runs” grew into uncross- 
able torrents and “chuck-holes” endan¬ 
gered the traveller over roads which 
were little more than trails through the 
wilderness of forest separating one plan¬ 
tation from another. 

No one thought of leaving as long as 
it stormed. They knew they were wel¬ 
come as long as they cared to stay. It 
was no uncommon thing in these days 
to keep the festive spirit of a ball alive 
for several days. Guests came from 
long distances and were expected to stay 
and partake of the hospitality of their 
host as long as they cared to. 

It cleared off the next day, but some 
of the guests decided to remain over an¬ 
other night, as the streams were much 


Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 179 

swollen and the roads still dangerous for 
the heavy coaches. 

The young men rode off early in the 
day and Jim with them. That put an 
end to the dancing, but the girls amused 
themselves playing singing-games with 
the children part of the morning. In 
the afternoon they worked on a quilt 
which was set up on a frame in the up¬ 
stairs hall. As their needles twinkled 
in and out, making those tiny stitches 
which covered the quilts of olden days, 
they chattered about the events of their 
happy, care-free lives, and of their 
homely occupations on the plantations, 
when parties were not going on. 

Mistress Huntington had a new 
recipe for potpourri which had come 
in her last letter from England. She 
copied it out in her neat little writing 


180 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

with a big quill pen and gave each of 
the girls a copy and bade them start a 
jar the first thing next spring. 

This is what the recipe told them to 
do: 

“Dry your violets in a sunny window. 
Have ready a quarter of a pound of 
finely powdered bay salt. When the 
roses are out, gather all kinds and dry 
in the same way. Then add them to the 
violets, putting a layer of salt between 
each two layers of flower-petals. Gather 
a good deal of lavender, also the leaves 
of the verbena, and, if possible, myrtle 
and orange blossoms. After all flowers 
and salt have filled the jar, its contents 
should be constantly stirred for a 
month.” 

This would keep the fragrant breath 
of the garden in the house long after the 
flowers had died outside. 

The boys spent the afternoon in the 


Entertaining at Myrtle Hill 181 

carpenter-shop making birch brooms 
just as the Indians used to make them. 
An old negro man who promised 
Tommy to show him how to make a 
broom, as soon as his fingers were strong 
enough to whittle, had the birch saplings 
all cut and ready. 

Tommy and Richard worked very 
hard until their fingers were sore and 
tired. The stout saplings had to be 
splintered carefully, and Tommy found 
he was cutting most of his off before he 
came to the end of the stick. This 
wouldn’t leave him any bristles to turn 
back and tie together. He grew dis¬ 
couraged and wanted to make a butter 
paddle instead. Richard was very slow 
and careful, but it was hard work for 
him, too. 

John didn’t even try to make a broom. 


182 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

He was content to whittle out little bits 
of nothing from scraps he found on the 
floor. These he called boats, and sailed 
them happily to foreign lands under the 
carpenter’s-bench until it was time to go 
back to the Great House. 

Sally had stayed with the girls to snip 
and sew wee bits of silk and ribbon for 
her wooden doll. At home she worked 
on a sampler every day. It was to have 
a row of letters and figures and her name 
in cross-stitch. 


CHAPTER XIV 

GOING TO CHURCH 

T HE four little cousins waited 
anxiously for Sunday to come. 
They wished that the day 
would be fine. Mistress Huntington 
had promised to let them go to church 
in the boat. 

Tommy had been to church only twice 
since he came to Myrtle Hill. It was 
a great treat to be allowed to go. He 
enjoyed the trip on the water, and liked 
to see the new faces and scenes. His 
little cousins went no oftener than he. 
From their home, it was a long way to 
the church. The trip had to be made in 

.183 


i 8 4 r ommy Tucker on a Plantation 

the chariot or chair. To go in a boat 
would be a new and exciting adventure 
for them. 

When Sunday came, it was a perfect, 
early autumn day. The sky was blue 
and the air was fresh and cool. 

The children dressed in their Sunday 
clothes. Richard and John wore smart 
blue silk suits with knee-breeches. The 
long-skirted coats were ornamented with 
pearl buttons, and the ruffles of their 
shirts were very fresh and trim. They 
had silver buckles at their knees and on 
their shoes. Their hair was tied in 
queues with black ribbons. 

Sally was in yellow challis, em¬ 
broidered with little bunches of bright 
flowers, made short-waisted with the 
skirt to the ankles. The neck was 
round with a dainty tucker folded 


Going to Church 185 

neatly across her shoulders. Little puff- 
sleeves left her chubby arms bare 
nearly to the shoulders. She wore tiny 
silk mitts which came to her elbows. 
On her bobbing black curls was a sheer 
muslin cap, framing her rosy cheeks 
with its frilly ruffle. 

Tommy wore brown tabby, cut from 
one of his aunt’s old gowns. It had a 
gay flowered vest trimmed with shining 
brass buttons. He felt quite as dressed- 
up as his cousins. 

Long before it was time to start, the 
children were ready. Mammy gath¬ 
ered their wraps for them. She found it 
hard to keep the eager children from go¬ 
ing down to the river before it was time. 

Mistress Huntington and Sally’s 
mother were to go to church in the 
coach, the girls following in the chariot, 


186 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

and Jim and his father on horseback. 
The children were much more excited 
about the trip than their mammies. 
Tommy asked his mammy if she were 
afraid. 

She said, “Chile, Ah, ain’t ’zackly 
’feared, but Ah likes to feel de lan’ un¬ 
der mah feet.” 

When the children grew too restless 
to wait any longer, Mistress Huntington 
told Mammy to let them get into their 
wraps and go down to the wharf. Rich¬ 
ard and John put on gray duffel coats 
and black beaver hats laced with silver 
cord. Tommy had a brown drugget 
cape and a little three-cornered beaver 
hat. Sally wore a merry little red cape 
with a hood. As she skipped along, it 
spread out behind her like bright wings. 

It was a very happy and important 


Going to Church 187 

party that chattered along the path down 
to the river-side. The big flat-bottomed 
boat was already tied to the wharf. 
Two young negroes in their master’s 
livery of green and buff sat waiting for 
the folks from the Great House. 

There was a lot of talk among the 
negroes as to how the party should be 
seated. The children were anxious to 
be off and could hardly wait to get 
aboard. At last it was decided that a 
mammy should sit at each end and two 
children on each of the two seats. This 
seemed to please every one. 

Getting the party into the boat was 
harder than deciding how they should 
sit. The old negro women were too 
heavy to be lifted into the boat. The 
steps down the side of the wharf were 
steep and narrow. For all Mammy’s 


188 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

saying she was not afraid, the children 
knew that she was. They even laughed 
at her as she stood trying to make up her 
mind to step into the unsteady boat. At 
last she sat down on the edge of the 
wharf and let herself down a step at a 
time, until she landed in the boat. Then 
it took a long time for her to go to the 
far end of it. With one of the young 
negroes on either side to steady her, she 
was finally seated without mishap. 

The other woman saw that no harm 
had come to her companion and she was 
much braver. One of the men lifted 
Sally off the wharf right over to her seat. 
The boys wanted to walk down the steps 
and across the boat alone, and the good- 
natured servants let them have their own 
way. Finally they all got aboard safely, 
and the rowers took their places. Their 


Going to Church 189 

long, steady strokes soon put the boat out 
into the center of the creek and headed 
her up-stream. 

For about half an hour they rowed up 
the winding creek between banks over¬ 
hung with trees and vines. The two 
frightened passengers were soon over 
their fear and fell to talking with the 
rowers. The children enjoyed every 
minute. They pointed to one thing 
after another along the banks, or 
watched the water for fish. Birds sang 
in the trees, and once Richard thought 
he saw a deer trot off into the woods. 
Tommy jumped up in his excitement 
and poor Mammy expected him to fall 
overboard, but he didn’t. Once they 
passed near the bank where there was a 
colony of beavers. One or two of the 
little animals that were sunning them- 


190 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

selves on a floating log swam hurriedly 
into shore when the splash of the oars 
startled them. All too soon they came 
in sight of the little wharf where they 
were to stop, and the whole party was 
safely unloaded. 

A short distance from the water stood 
the church. It was old, even then, and 
had been built from some of the first 
bricks ever made from Virginia clay. 
It had no steeple. The walls were cov¬ 
ered with vines. The long windows 
were narrow, with small panes of plain 
glass. Vines grew over the windows in 
many places, and made as pretty a pat¬ 
tern as in any stained glass. The bell 
was hung from the branch of a great 
oak-tree near the church door. 

Already several coaches and chairs 
had arrived, bringing the planters and 


Going to Church 191 

their families. The children had been 
told to wait until their elders came be¬ 
fore they went into the church. They 
amused themselves as w r ell as they could 
in their Sunday clothes, and Sunday 
manners. 

Tommy saw a flying squirrel, and the 
three boys started off into the woods 
back of the church after it. They quite 
forgot their best clothes and their Sun¬ 
day manners then. Off they ran as fast 
as they could to watch the little creature. 
It took great leaps, spreading out its four 
little legs, fairly sailing through the air, 
from tree to tree. 

The boys might have gone far into the 
woods if John had not tripped over a 
log. He fell flat. His black beaver 
hat flew off into the leaves. Tommy and 
Richard ran back to see if he were hurt. 


192 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

He had only skinned his leg. They 
brushed him off, and found he had made 
a hole in his silk stocking, lost one silver 
knee-buckle and torn his wrist ruffles. 

John began to cry. Richard com¬ 
forted him as well as he could. Then 
they all started to look for the lost 
buckle. 

Back at the church, Sally was watch¬ 
ing the people. She saw them exchange 
greetings with their friends. The ladies 
rustled into the church and the men re¬ 
mained outside. Church was one of the 
few places where people could meet and 
be sociable. It was the place for ex¬ 
changing views on all subjects, and talk¬ 
ing over the events of the neighborhood. 

Mr. Huntington and Jim arrived be¬ 
fore the ladies from Myrtle Hill. Their 
horses were left in charge of a groom 


Going to Church 193 

who had come with them from the plan¬ 
tation. They joined different groups of 
gentlemen, gathered around the church 
door. Jim was more interested in talk¬ 
ing over the latest racing victories and 
cock-fights than his father, who was 
deeply interested in the standing of the 
tobacco market and political affairs of 
the colony. The men always remained 
outside, talking, until the service began. 

Just before the bell rang, Mistress 
Huntington, her guest, and the girls ar¬ 
rived. They made a brave showing in 
their bright-colored silk and velvet man- 
tuas and gay bonnets. 

Sally ran to meet them. There had 
been so much to see that she had not 
missed the boys. Now that it was time 
to go into church, they were nowhere to 
be found. Mistress Huntington sent 


194 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

Mammy to tell one of the young negro 
men from the plantation to look for the 
boys. Certainly they could not have 
gone very far away. 

The sexton came out to ring the 
church bell. Mistress Huntington and 
Sally’s mother decided to go into church 
without Tommy, Richard, and John. 
Just as they started to enter the church 
Sally saw the boys coming from the 
woods back of the church. 

They all looked a bit the worse for 
their run. However, it was too late to 
scold them for the torn ruffles and stock¬ 
ing. John tried to tell his mother about 
the lost buckle but she hurried him into 
the church. The children were not al¬ 
lowed to sit together but were placed 
between their elders in the several pews 
used by the family. 


Going to Church 195 


These pews were built like big square 
boxes with seats on all four sides. Some 
of the people had to sit facing away from 
the minister. 


At the opening of the 
service the men were 
'iL sent for and came in to 
join their families. There 
was the click¬ 
ing of latches 
all through the 


jpgs church, as the 
men opened and 
closed the little 
IN church doors to their 
pews. Then there was quiet and the 
service began. 

The service was not long and the 
cushioned seats were comfortable. 
Sally went to sleep during the sermon 






































196 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

with her head on Cousin Lucy’s lap. 
Many a grown-up was seen nodding, 
too. 

After church there was a general so¬ 
cial time. Invitations to dinner were 
given and accepted. Then the groups 
began to break up. The ladies sought 
their coaches and the gentlemen 
mounted their horses. The young peo¬ 
ple of Myrtle Hill drove away to dine 
with friends at a neighboring planta¬ 
tion. Long before the last coach had 
driven off, the children and their mam¬ 
mies were safely aboard the boat and on 
their way back to the plantation. 


CHAPTER XV 


THE SHIP COMES IN 


O NE morning, after all the 
guests had gone, Tommy 
stood by himself under the 
tulip-tree. He missed his little cousins 
very much. The Great House was 
quiet again and it was harder to play 
alone since the cousins had been there. 

The leaves were turning yellow and 
red and beginning to fall from the trees. 
Tommy liked to watch them come float¬ 
ing down, and see them chase each other 
back and forth across the lawn. 

A flock of wild geese flew honking 
overhead. He ran to the top of the hill 


197 


198 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

so he could watch them flying in long 
V-shaped lines down the river. He 
wondered how Solomon was get¬ 
ting along back in Norfolk. Perhaps 
these were Solomon’s cousins. Tommy 
thought how lonely Solomon must be 
if geese missed their cousins as much as 
boys did. As he stood watching a few 
stragglers racing to catch up with the 
flock, he saw a white sail far down on 
the river. He waited a minute to be 
sure, and then ran as fast as he could 
toward the house. 

“Uncle, Uncle!” he cried. “The 
ship is coming. I see the sails!” 

He was out of breath when he reached 
the house with the good news. His 
uncle was sitting in the library reading 
before the fire. He wore a banyan, or 
loose gown of brightly-colored striped 


The Ship Comes In 199 

material. On his head, in place of the 
usual neat white wig, was a small close 
cap. 

“Oh, Uncle,” Tommy said. “The 
ship is coming, I saw her sails.” 

“Good news, lad,” Mr. Huntington 
said, getting up from his place before 
the fire. “Let us see whether the glass 
can tell us if it really is the Lucy Lee.” 

He went over to the bookcase and 
took down a long, round, leather case. 
Out of it he took a spy-glass. Tommy 
had often seen his uncle use this thing 
that looked like a brass tube. He knew 
that you looked in the smaller end and 
could see things that were a long way 
off, but he had been told never to touch 
the spy-glass, so he knew very little 
about it. 

The planter and the little boy went 


200 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

out on the lawn where they could see 
the river. Sure enough, there was a 
ship, sailing toward them with her white 
sails puffed out in the morning breeze. 
Tommy was so excited that he jumped 
up and down and waved his arms, shout¬ 
ing, “Hurrah, hurrah for the Lucy 
Lee!” His uncle adjusted the spy-glass 
to get a clearer view of the ship. 

“Sure enough, it is the good ship 
Lucy with Captain Thomas at the 
wheel. She will be at the tobacco wharf 
before long,” he said. “Here, Tommy, 
would you like to look for yourself? I 
must dress and go at once to the wharf 
to meet her.” 

By this time several of the servants 
working about the house had seen the 
sails and were looking with as much in¬ 
terest as their master, toward the ship re- 


201 


The Ship Comes In 

turning from its long voyage all safe and 
sound. Mr. Huntington left Tommy 
with the spy-glass and hurried to the 
house. He gave orders as he passed, 
to have his horse saddled and at the door 
as soon as it could be done. 

Tommy felt very important being left 
in charge of the spy-glass. He pointed 
it toward the ship and put his eye to the 
smaller end as he had seen his uncle do. 
He expected to see the ship as plain as 
if he were close to it. He was very 
much disappointed. With the eye look¬ 
ing through the glass he couldn’t see 
anything, and with the other eye he saw 
the lawn and the trees and the river just 
the same as before. 

Something was wrong, but he didn’t 
know what to do. He started all over 
This time he tried shutting the 


again. 


202 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

eye which was not looking through the 
glass, but he found that one eye wouldn’t 
stay shut unless he shut the other, too. 
This was very disturbing. He put the 
spy-glass on the ground and tried to shut 
one eye without shutting the other. But 
try as hard as he could, there was no way 
he could do it without holding his hand 
over the eye he didn’t want to see out of. 
He thought this would work. 

So he took up the spy-glass and held it 
to his right eye and kept his hand over 
his left one. It would have been all 
right if the glass had not been so heavy. 
With only one hand to hold it, the long 
tube wobbled so that Tommy saw first 
blurred green grass and then sky, and 
once, for a second, the river. Then it 
was gone, and try as hard as he could, 
he didn’t find it again. 


203 


The Ship Comes In 

Tommy was discouraged and his arms 
were tired. He sat down on the lawn 
with the glass beside him to watch the 
ship with his own two eyes. Spy¬ 
glasses, he decided, were not meant for 
little boys to use. 

But after a while, he took up the spy¬ 
glass again. He found by propping it 
on his knees he could hold it quite steady 
with one hand. Then to his delight, 
with just a little trying, he found the 
ship. He was very excited indeed. It 
was wonderful to be able to see the ship 
so plainly when she was really quite far 
away. 

He watched her come up to the wharf 
and saw the sailors let down the sails. 
His uncle went on board, and by and 
by he came ashore with a man that 
Tommy guessed was Captain Thomas. 


204 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

The dinner-bell called Tommy to the 
house long before he was tired of look¬ 
ing through the spy-glass. He didn’t 
want to go in, for he was afraid he never 
would be allowed to use it again. 

Mr. Huntington brought Captain 
Thomas to the Great House to dinner. 
He was welcomed by Mistress Hunt¬ 
ington and her daughters as a special 
guest. For many years he had faith¬ 
fully carried the planter’s crops of to¬ 
bacco to the London merchants. On 
every trip he also took letters from the 
family at Myrtle Hill to their friends 
and relatives in England. 

This time he brought back letters 
for all the family and two for Tommy 
Tucker. One was from his Mother and 
one from his Father. Tommy was as 
proud as could be, for he was able to 


The Ship Comes In 205 

read his own name on the outside. He 
was learning to read so well that he 
thought now he might read his letters all 
alone. Perhaps he would need a little 
help if the writing wasn’t quite plain, 
but he wanted to try all by himself. 

There was always great excitement on 
the plantation when the ship came back 
and was unloaded. The great boxes 
and bales were carried up to the house 
and unpacked. All the family stood 
around and waited with eager delight to 
see what there would be just for them. 
Jim had told Tommy what happened 
when the ship came in, so of course he 
was anxious to see the great boxes and 
bales, and what was in them. He could 
hardly wait until the long dinner was 
over. 

Tommy was always allowed to leave 


2o6 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

the table before the toasts were given 
and drunk. That was a ceremony more 
interesting to his elders than to Tommy. 

To-day when he was excused he ran 
outside to see the porters bring the things 
from the ship. While he waited, he 
opened his letters, but to his surprise he 
wasn’t quite sure of any of the words 
but his own name. 

It was not long before a line of ne¬ 
groes came up the hill from the wharf. 
They were bareheaded and barefooted 
and their backs bent under their heavy 
loads. A man that Tommy thought was 
a sailor, directed them. Some of the 
men brought boxes to the porch of the 
Great House and others containing sup¬ 
plies were carried to the storehouse. 

By the time the family finished dinner, 
many bales and boxes were piled up on 


207 


The Ship Comes In 

the porch. Tommy was very anxious 
for the opening to begin, but he still had 
some time to wait. 

Mr. Huntington and Captain 
Thomas went into the little office room 
where the great desk stood and closed 
the door. Here they went over many 
papers and the planter checked long 
lists as he compared them with other lists 
the captain had. 

Jim was off paying a visit to Mr. 
Johns. Tommy was so sorry to have 
Jim miss the opening of the ship’s boxes, 
but he knew that Jim would be glad to 
miss the business in the office. 

Mistress Huntington ordered large 
pieces of canvas to be laid in the hall so 
the boxes might be unpacked without 
marring the polished floor. When the 
planter and Captain Thomas opened 


208 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

the door of the office, everything was 
ready for the unpacking to begin. Two 
of the house-servants had carried in a 
big box and stood waiting for their mas¬ 
ter’s order to open it. Mistress Hunt¬ 
ington told Tommy to call Lucy and 
Margaret from the music-room. He 
did this quickly. 

Chairs were brought, and the family 
sat down around the canvas-covered 
space. Word was given to the negroes 
to open the box. Tommy suddenly left 
his seat and disappeared. His aunt saw 
him go, but said nothing. Just before 
the last wrappings were off the box, 
Tommy came back with Mammy. He 
couldn’t have his faithful friend miss 
this great event in plantation life. 

After her mistress had nodded a smil¬ 
ing approval, Mammy sat down apart 


209 


The Ship Comes In 

from the family. Tommy stood by her 
and tried to guess what the very first 
thing out of the box would be. He 
leaned over to whisper to Mammy about 
it. 

“Chile, hit will be pretty clo’s foh de 
Missus an’ a bran’-new suit for Massa, 
an’ a new hat foh lil’ Massa, dats what 
hit’ll be,” Mammy told him. 

But she was quite wrong. When the 
box was opened, the negroes stepped 
aside and the master went over to it. 

“Now guess,” he said, “what the very 

first thing will be.” 

But before they had time to say a 
word, he reached down and brought up 
a queer-shaped bundle. It was un¬ 
wrapped and held up so every one could 
see it was a shining silver cake-basket. 
Mistress Huntington was delighted. 


210 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

She got up and went over to the box 
and helped her husband to take out one 
by one, many fine pieces of silver for 
her side-board. There was a sugar-bowl 
and tongs, a cream-pitcher, and a sauce¬ 
boat; spoons of all sizes and kinds, a 
few forks, and a coffee-pot. 

The next box, and two after it, were 
full of clothes and whole bolts of ma¬ 
terial for Mistress Huntington and the 
girls. There was great joy and excite¬ 
ment over each garment taken out. The 
girls wanted to try on everything right 
away. There were masks and gloves, 
shoes, stockings, laces and ribbons, and 
enough finery to make them happy for 
a long time. 

Next there were books for Mr. Hunt¬ 
ington’s library. Then came china, 


211 


The Ship Comes In 

which was packed so well that not a 
piece was broken in all that long trip 
from London to the Virginia plantation. 

Then came a box marked “For Mas¬ 
ter Talbot Matthew Tucker.” Tommy 
was called over to get his present. It 
was so heavy that he could scarcely carry 
it. He took it to Aunt Margery. A 
servant opened the box and the family 
gathered around Tommy to watch him 
unpack his presents. There was a toy 
pair of scales and a spying-glass which 
was just the right size for Tommy to 
manage. He had to look through it at 
everything around the hall before he 
unpacked anything else. Next he took 
out a little drum and then a game of 
Battledore and Shuttle. Lucy and Mar¬ 
garet started at once to bat the gay little 


I 


212 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

shuttle back and forth. They came 
running back to Tommy, however, when 
he called out joyously: 

“Look at my beautiful horse and cart! 
Look, Lucy and Margaret! Look, 
everybody!” 

He held up a little tin horse, drawing 
a tiny cart, painted bright red. It was a 
simple toy, but Tommy was delighted. 
He left the box, without waiting to see if 
there were anything more in it and 
started to push the little cart about on 
the polished floor. The wheels went 
around and the horse’s legs looked as 
if he were walking even though they 
couldn’t move. 

In the bottom of the box Lucy found 
a beautiful little hornbook with an ivory 
back. On the front was the alphabet 
and a row of figures, from one to nine 



213 


The Ship Comes In 

and the Lord’s Prayer. These were 
printed in red, and covered with a very 
thin, clear piece of horn. Mistress 
Huntington said she had never seen a 
prettier one. Then there was a real 
book called “Mother Goose’s Melodies” 
in a flowery and gilt binding, with the 
queerest little pictures inside. 

Tommy left his horse and cart to look 
at the books. He was so delighted to 
find his name in the front of the little 
Mother Goose book that he carried it off 
to show Mammy. 

By the time the boxes were unpacked 
it was nearly dark. The candles were 
lit and supper was ready before they 
knew it. 

Just as they were going into the 
dining-room, Jim and Mr. Johns came 
in. They had been out on horseback 


214 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

and seeing the sail on the river, guessed 
it was the Lucy Lee. They had ridden 
in all haste to Myrtle Hill to join the fun. 

f _ 

They had a very gay supper indeed. 
Because it was a special occasion, 
Tommy was allowed to go to the table 
and to sit next to his friend, Mr. Johns, 
who promised to read his letters to him 
after supper. Tommy tried to listen to 
all the gay talk around him and keep 
awake. However it was much later 
than his usual bed-time, and try as hard 
as he could, his eyes would go shut and 
he nodded between bites of supper. 

He was sound asleep before the meal 
was finished and Mr. Johns carried him 
up stairs. Mammy put him to bed with¬ 
out waking him up. 

He was still dreaming about boxes 


The Ship Comes In 215 

and bales- laden with treasures when 
Mammy called him next morning. 
The first thing he saw when he opened 



SOUND ASLEEP 

his eyes was the little tin horse and his 
book and preciou 1 ' letters. Some one 
had put them inside the curtains at the 












216 Tommy Tucker on a Plantation 

foot of his bed. He guessed it was 
Mammy, who always remembered what 
pleased her “chile.” 

So Tommy began another happy day 
on the big plantation. He liked it so 
well there that he stayed on until he was 
old enough to go back to England to 
school. 

When he came to Virginia again, he 
brought the twins, and then he was so 
grown-up that no one even thought of 
calling him Tommy Tucker. 


THE END 















































































































































